California 
legional 
'acility 


•    . 


THE  LIBRARY 
„_         OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 
SERIES 


EDITORS  OF  THE   SERIES: 

REV.  W.  H.  WITHROW,  M.A.,  D.D.,  F.R.S.C. 

CHARLES  G.  D.  ROBERTS,  M.A.,  F.R.C.I. 

J.  CASTELL  HOPKINS,  F.R.S.L. 

T.  G.  MARQUIS,  B.A. 

REV.  T.  S.  LINSCOTT,  F.R.C.I. 


THE   PROGRESS 
OF   NEW  ZEALAND 

IN  THE  CENTURY 


BY 

R.  F.  IRVINE,  M.A.,  AND  O.  T.  J.  ALPERS,  M.A. 


THE   LINSCOTT   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 

TORONTO  AND   PHILADELPHIA 

W.    &    R.    CHAMBERS,    LIMITED 

LONDON   AND  EDINBURGH 
1902 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  tn  the  Year  One  Thousand  Nine 
Hundred  and  One,  by  the  Bradley-Qarretson  Co.,  Limited,  in  the  Office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Parliament  of  Canada,  in  the  Year  One 
Thousand  Nine  Hundred  and  One,  by  the  Bradley-Garretson  Co.,  Limited, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Minister  of  Agriculture. 


Ml  Kigkt3  Reserved. 


DU 

4-2-0 


PREFACE. 


THE  authors  of  this  Volume  have  been  at  some 
disadvantage  in  that  they  were  unable  to  meet  in  the 
course  of  its  preparation,  as  they  had  intended  to 
do,  and  have  only  been  able  to  compare  notes  by  let- 
ter. It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  some  repetitions 
may  occur. 

Part  I,  which  deals  with  the  history  of  New  Zea- 
land up  to  the  year  1870,  was  written  by  Mr. 
Irvine;  and  Part  II,  which  deals  with  events  and 
legislation  subsequent  to  1870,  by  Mr.  Alpers. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  work,  information  has 
been  gathered  from  many  sources,  the  most  im- 
portant of  which  are  acknowledged  in  footnotes. 
The  authors  desire  to  mention  here  their  great  in- 
debtedness to  Mr.  T.  A.  Coghlan,  Government 
Statistician  of  N.S.W.,  who  furnished  the  figures 
for  the  Statistical  Appendix  and  helped  in  a  variety 
of  ways;  to  Mr.  E.  J.  von  Dadelzen,  Registrar 
General  of  ITew  Zealand,  and  author  of  the  official 
Year  Book,  which  contains  a  mine  of  information 
and  has  been  freely  drawn  upon;  and  to  Mr. 
Edward  Tregear,  editor  of  the  "  Journal  of  the 
Department  of  Labour,  N.Z.". 


TO 

OUR  COMMON 

ALMA  MATER, 

CANTERBURY  COLLEGE,  N.  Z.  UNIVERSITY, 

T1IIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED 

BY  THE 

AUTHORS. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

DISCOVEKY  AND  SETTLEMENT. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ARAWA. 

PAGtK 

Hawaiki,  Home  of  the  Maoris. — Maori  Pilgrim  Fathers 
Land  in  New  Zealand. — Whanga-Paroa. — Origin  of  the 
Different  Tribes. — Whence  came  the  Maoris  ?..... 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

MAORILAND. 

Aotea,  Situation  and  Extent. — North  Island. — Middle  or 
South  Island.— The  Switzerland  of  S.  Pacific.— Weird 
Sights  of  North  Island.— The  "  Alps  "  of  South  Island. 
— Vegetation. — Mammals. — Birds. — Climate 7 

CHAPTER  m. 

THE  MAORI. 

The  Maori  of  To-day. — Social  System,  Aristocratic. — Tri- 
bal System,  Communal. — Oratory. — Tapu,  the  Maori 
Decalogue. — Maoris'  Love  of  War. — Mythology  of  the 
Maoris. — Literature. — Art 19 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  COMING  OP  THE  WHITE  MAN. 

Various  Claims  Regarding  First  Discovery  of  New  Zea- 
land.— Tasman's  Famous  Voyage. — Cook's  First  Visit, 


x  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

1769.— French    Expeditions. — Subsequent  Voyages    of 
Cook. — European  Interest 36 

CHAPTER  V. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN   1800  AND  1840. 
PIONEERS. 

Intercourse  with  N.  S.  Wales. — Whaling  and  Sealing 
Stations. — Three  Classes  of  Settlers,  "Hands "at  Sta- 
tions, Missionaries,  Vagabonds. — Life  at  Station,  Law- 
lessness.— Law  and  Order  League 46 

CHAPTER  VI. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN   1800  AND  1840. 
FLOTSAM  AND  JETSAM. 

The  Pakeha  Maoris. — Earliest  Pakehas,  Bruce  and  Stewart. 
— Palmy  Days  of  the  Pakeha. — Estimate  of  the  Char- 
acter of  the  Pakeha. 54 

CHAPTER  VII. 

RONGOPAI,  GLAD  TIDINGS. 

Rev.  S.  Marsden,  the  Augustine  of  New  Zealand. — Angli- 
cans and  Wesleyans  Work  in  Harmony. — Fifteen  Years 
of  Fruitless  Labour.— Dawn  of  Success,  1830. — Benefits 
of  Union  of  Religious  and  Industrial  Education. — Long 
and  Trying  Journeys 59 

CHAPTER  VHI. 

WARS  OP  THE  NATIONS,  1800-1840. 

Massacre  of  "The  Boyd."— Aftercrop  of  Evils.— Hongi 
Hika,  the  Napoleon  of  New  Zealand.— Rauparaha  and 
the  Murder  of  Tama-i-hara-nui.— War  between  the 
Waikato  and  Ngatiawa 73 

CHAPTER  IX. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN  1800  AND  1840. 
THE  HOUR  BEFORE  THE  DAWN. 

Mr.  Kendall,  the  Magistrate  at  Bay  of  Islands. — Mission- 


CONTENTS.  xi 

MM 

aries  Oppose  Settlement. — French  Activity. — British 
Resident  at  Bay  of  Islands. — "  Alligator"  Cruelties  be- 
fore Parliament. — Baron  de  Thierry's  Claims. — Poinpal- 
lier  at  Hokianga. — Land  Sharks 87 

CHAPTER  X. 

SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION. 

First  Colonisation  Scheme  a  Failure. — Distress  in  EV- 
land. — Edward  Gibbon  Wakefield's  plan  of  Systematic 
Colonisation. — New  Zealand  Association,  1837,  a  Fail- 
ure.— Opposition  of  Lord  Glenelg. — New  Zealand  Com- 
pany.— The  "  Tory  "  Sails. — Hobson  Sent  out  by  Govern- 
ment.— Interest  in  England. — Wakefield  Buys  Land 
from  the  Chiefs 96 

CHAPTER  XI. 

WAITANGI. 

Hobaon,  as  Lieutenant  Governor,  Takes  Possession  of 
New  Zealand. — "Treaty  of  Waitangi"  Signed. — Injus- 
tice to  Early  Settlers  Divides  Whites  into  Two  Hos- 
tile Camps. — New  Zealand  Company's  First  Settlers  Lo- 
cate at  Wellington. — Auckland  chosen  as  Capital  by 
Hobson. — New  Zealand  Given  a  Separate  Government. 
— Hobson  and  the  "  Land  Sharks." — First  Legislative 
Council  Established. — Quarter  Sessions  and  Courts  of 
Request. — Settlement  at  Blind  Bay. — New  Zealand  Com- 
pany's Troubles  With  the  Natives. — Death  of  Hobson. 
— Daily  Life  in  the  Colony. — Population 109 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER. 

Shortland,  Acting-governor,  almost  Precipitates  War. — 
The  Work  of  the  Land  Commissioners. — New  Zealand 
Company  and  Commissioner  Spain.  —  Massacre  at 
Wairau.— Fitzroy's Ridiculous  Arrival. — Fitzroy's  Insane 
Policy  of  Blind  Conciliation. — Penny  an  Acre  Proc- 
lamation.— Hone  Heke  Destroys  Kororareka. — Con- 
sternation at  Auckland  and  Wellington. — Failure  of 
Punitive  Expeditious , , 131 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  XIII. 

GOVERNOR  GREY. 


PAGE 


Energy  and  Tact  of  New  Governor.— Withdraws  the 
"Penny  an  Acre"  Proclamation. — Forces  Heke  to 
make  Submission.— Trouble  in  the  South.— Grey  Seizes 
Bauparaha.— Maoris  make  Peace.— Hanging  of  Martin 

Luther. Grey's  Policy  Tends  to  Conciliate  the  Maoris. 

— Difficulty  in  Introducing  English  Law  Among  the 
Maoris. — Grey's  Trouble  with  the  Colonists. — Auto- 
cratic Policy.— The  Governor  Disobeys  the  Royal  Char- 
ter Establishing  Representative  Government 146 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO. 

South  Island  almost  Untouched  by  Wave  of  Colonisation 
on  Grey's  Arrival. — Otago,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  Set- 
tlement.— Captain  Cargill  and  Rev.  Thomas  Burns  the 
Real  Founders  of  Otago. — The  Lay  Association  of  the 
Free  Church. — High  Price  of  Land  and  Small  Allot- 
ments.— Port  Chalmers  and  Dunedin  Founded,  1848. — 
Trouble  in  the  New  Settlements. — Bitterness  over  the 
Suspension  of  the  Constitution  Bill. — Humorous  As- 
pects of  the  Early  Settlements 163 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS. 

Financial  Condition  of  the  New  Zealand  Company. — The 
Aims  of  the  Canterbury  Association. — Humorous  At- 
tacks upon  the  Canterbury  Plans. — Four  Ships  bring 
out  800  Immigrants. — Canterbury  Plains  as  seen  by 
the  Pilgrims. — In  1853  Canterbury  Becomes  One  of  the 
Six  Provinces  of  New  Zealand.— Christ's  College. — The 
Colony  in  1857,  Population.— The  Great  Earthquake...  175 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT. 

Joy  of  the  Colonists  when  a  Constitution  was  Granted, 
1852. — Liberal  Principles  of  the  Act. — Unexampled 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

PAOK 

Power  of  Local  Government. — Powers  of  Provincial 
Governments. — Governor  Grey's  Mistake  in  Delaying 
the  Operation  of  the  Constitution  Bill  and  Calling  the 
Provincial  Councils  Together  First. — First  General  As- 
sembly Meets  May  24,  1854. — Struggle  for  Responsible 
Government. — The  "Clean  Shirt"  Ministry. — Respon- 
sible Government  Granted  by  Governor  T.  Gore  Browne, 
1856. — Centralists  and  Provincialists. — Native  Policy. — 
Sir  Donald  McLean,  First  Native  Secretary 189 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  "SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY." 

Sleeping  on  a  Volcano. — Native  Schools. — Evil  Effects  of 
"  Sugar  and  Flour  "  Policy. — Native  Districts  Regulation 
Bill. — Failure  of  our  Native  Policy. — Wi  Tamihana,  the 
King  Maker. — Grievances  of  Maoris  against  the  Whites. 
— The  Land  Question,  the  Centre  of  Discontent. — Great 
Meeting  of  the  Maoris  at  Rangiriri. — The  Lull  Before 
the  Storm 203 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

TEIRA'S  LAND. 

Land  Troubles  in  Taranaki — Teira's  Sale  of  Land. — Wi 
Kingi's  Protest. — Outbreak  of  Hostilities. — Defeat  of 
British  at  Puketakauere  Pa. — King  Potatau  Dies. — 
King  Natives  Take  Part  under  Wetini. — Wi  Tamihana 
in  Role  of  Peace  Maker. — Ultimatum  of  the  Governor. 
—Return  of  Sir  George  Grey 219 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO. 

Sir  George  Grey's  Return. — Question  of  Native  Adminis- 
tration Re-opened. — Grey's  Scheme  of  District  Runan- 
gas. — Failure  of  Peace  Negotiations  with  Waikatos. 
— Attempt  to  Occupy  Tataraimaka. — Hostility  of  the 
King  Natives. — Cameron,  "  Cunctator." — Capture  of 
Rangiriri  Pa. — The  Maori  Defeat  at  Orakau.— Tauranga.  233 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  HAU-HAUS. 

PAGE 

Tamihana  Makes  his  Peace. — The  Hau-Haus  Murder  Cap- 
tain Lloyd.— Hau-Haus  at  Sentry  Hill. — Threatened  At- 
tack on  Wanganui. — The  Heroic  Struggle  at  Moutua. — 
Hau-Hau  Belief. — Government "  Policy  of  Confiscation." 
— General  Cameron  "  The  Lame  Sea-gull." — Disputes 
Between  Governor  and  General.  — Capture  of  Wereroa 
Pa  by  the  Governor. — Grave  Questions  Confronting  the 
Colony. — Self-Reliance  Policy  Prevails. — Change  of 
Capital,  Oct.  3,  1864.— Financial  Questions.— Vigorous 
Policy  of  General  Chute. — Opotiki. — Recall  of  Sir  George 
Grey. — Hau-Haus  Resume  Operations. — Reverses  at 
Taranaki. — Poverty  Bay  Massacre. — Te  Kooti  Defeated 
at  Ngatapa. — End  of  the  War  for  Maori  Independence.  247 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT. 

(1860-1870.) 

The  War  Retards  Progress. — Progress  of  the  Colony. — 
The  First  Railway. — Provincialism. — Discovery  of  Gold. 
—The  Otago  Gold  Fields.— Gold  in  Westland.— Explora- 
tion of  Middle  Island. — The  Kauri-gum  Industry. — 
New  Zealand  Flax  and  Timber. — Pioneers  of  the  Bush 
Country. — Transformation  of  Middle  Island. — A  Univer- 
sity Established 265 


PART  II. 

EXPANSION  AND  EXPERIMENT. 
CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY  AND  THE  ABOLITION  OP  THE 
PROVINCES. 

The  Wonderful  Decade  1870-1880.— Public  Works  Policy. 
— Sir  Julius  Vogel. — Log  Rolling  among  the  Poli- 
ticians.— Extravagant  Borrowing  and  Prodigal  Spend- 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAQB 

"ing. — Railways  of  the  Colony. — State-aided  Immigration. 
— Land-boom. — Provincial  Governments  and  Provincial- 
ism.— Abolition  of  Provincialism. — Sir  George  Grey  Re- 
enters  Public  Life. — Local  Government  Act 278 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY. 

Ministerial  Combinations  and  Permutations. — Sir  Julius 
Vogel  Appointed  Agent-General  in  London. — Sir  George 
Grey's  Ministry. — The  Property  Tax. — Stout- Vogel  Ad- 
ministration.— Atkinson  and  Retrenchment. — End  of 
the  Continuous  Ministry. — Important  Constitutional 
Changes. — One  Man,  One  Vote. — State  Socialism  and 
the  Continuous  Ministry. — State  Life  Insurance. — 
Torrens  Land  Transfer  System. — Public  Trust  Office. — 
Native  Policy  of  Continuous  Ministry.  —  Parihaka 
Fiasco. — Te  Whiti's  Policy  of  Passive  Resistance. — Re- 
port of  Royal  Commission. — The  Army  of  Occupation 
in  Parihaka 291 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY. 

A  New  Epoch. — Hard  Times  and  Discontent. — "New 
Liberal "  or  "  Progressive  "  Party. — Policy  of  Ballance 
Government. — Causes  of  the  Success  of  the  Progres- 
sives.— Land  and  Income  Tax  Assessment  Act. — Wo- 
men's Suffrage. — Effects  of  Women's  Franchise. — Munic- 
ipal Government. — Department  of  Labour. — Co-opera- 
tive Labour  on  Public  Works. — Inherent  Dangers  in 
the  System. — Old  Age  Pension  Act 307 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Political  Creed  of  The  New  Zealander. — Fifteen  Labour 
Laws  of  New  Zealand. — Regulation  of  Factories  and 
Shops. — Hours  of  Labour  and  Holidays. — Protection  of 
Women  and  Children. — Compensation  for  Accidents. — 
Protection  of  Workmen's  Wages.— Industrial  Concilia- 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

PACK 

tion  and  Arbitration. — Defects  in  Machinery  of  Concil- 
iation Bill. — Break  Down  of  Conciliation  Clauses. — No 
Cause  for  Despair 331 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT. 

Chaotic  Condition  of  Land  Laws,  1878. — Land  for  the 
People. — Three  Systems  of  Land  Tenure. — Agricultural 
Co-operation. — "  Village  Settlements  "  System. — Re- 
stricting the  Area  of  Holdings. — "  Land  for  Settlement " 
Act. — Compulsory  Purchase  of  Estates. — "Hatuma" 
and  "  Cheviot "  Estates. — Government  as  Money  Lenders. 
— Sheep-Farming. — Frozen  Meat  Trade. — Cereal  Crops. 
— Dairy  Farming. — New  Zealand  a  Farmers'  Country . .  354 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION. 

Education  under  Provincial  Government  Control. — Free, 
Secular  and  Compulsory  Education. — Teachers'  Attain- 
ments.— Pride  of  People  in  their  School  System. — 
Secondary  Schools. — University  of  New  Zealand. — Af- 
filiated Colleges. — Educational  Conditions  in  the  Colony.  373 

CHAPTER  XXV111. 

ABT,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE. 

Art,  Science  and  Literature  in  their  Infancy  yet. — Arch- 
itecture.— Music. — Science  Encouraged  by  Govern- 
ment.— Literature  of  Science. — Newspapers  in  the  Col- 
ony.— Magazines. — Historical  Works  of  the  Colony. — 
Utopian  Literature. — Novelists  and  Novels. — The  Sing- 
ers of  The  Colony. — Domett. — Bracken. — Williams. — 
Adams 382 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OP  THK  CENTURY. 

The  Outlook  Dark. — Census  Returns  show  Decrease  in 
Numbers. — Causes  for  the  Decrease. — Social  OEvils. — 


CONTENTS.  xvji 

PAGB 

Lack  of  Sanitation. — Maori  Character  Prevents  Amelio- 
ration.— Happy-go-luckyism  of  the  Maori. — Native 
Names  Breathe  Poetry. — Keltic  Vein  in  the  Maori  Tem- 
perament.— Is  the  Maori  Doomed  to  Extinction  ? — Edu- 
cation among  the  Maori. — Te  Aute  College.— The 
Young  Maori  Party.— The  Gospel  of  Work.— The  Break 
Up  of  Communism. — Parihaka  again. — Maori  Parlia- 
ments.—A  Typical  Parliament  at  Parakino. — A  War 
Dance. — Proposed  Maori  Home  Rule 399 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE  ISLAND  KACE. 

The  "  Island  Race  "  Yet  in  its  Infancy.— New  Zealanders 
are  British. — Population  at  the  End  of  the  Nineteenth 
Century. — Natural  Advantages.— Population  Rural ;  No 
Cities.— No  State  Church. — Sobriety  of  the  People. — 
Decreasing  Birth  Rate. — Progress  but  not  Poverty. — 
A  Free  Career  to  all  the  Talents. — From  Digger's  Hut 
to  Privy  Council. — A  Country  of  Travellers. — Republi- 
can Equality  of  Manners. — New  Zealanders  are  Dis- 
tinctly English. — Sports  and  Pastimes. — New  Zealand 
is  Imperialistic. — New  Zealand  First  of  Self-govern- 
ing Colonies  to  Offer  Troops  for  South  Africa. — The 
Future...  .  420 


STATISTICAL  APPENDIX. 

THE  PROGRESS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND  SINCE  1875. 

Population. — Birth  Rate  and  Death  Rate. — Education  Re- 
turns.— Criminal  Record. — Railways. — Postal  and  Tele- 
graph Lines. — Trade  and  Navigation. — Imports  and  Ex- 
ports.— Land  Holdings. — Agricultural  Statistics. — Pas- 
toral Industry. — Mineral  Resources. — Revenue,  Expen- 
diture, and  Debt. — Bank  Deposits. — Government  Life 
Insurance. — Old  Age  Pensions 438 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 445 


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PKOGRESS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND 
IN  TEE  CENTUBY. 


PART  I. 

DISCOVERY  AND  SETTLEMENT. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE  AEAWA. 

Alas  f  afterwards  do  thou  in  the  evening  hours 
Produce  and  begin  the  talk  of  old, 
The  story  of  the  earliest  times, 
Of  the  great  ancient  men. 

— Maori  Song. 

IT  is  fitting  that  the  history  of  New  Zealand 
should  begin  with  the  coming  of  the  Maoris,  the 
brown  men  who  fared  thither  from  Hawaiki,  and 
who  have  been  no  insignificant  factor  in  the  events 
that  have  taken  place  in  New  Zealand  within  the 
last  hundred  years.  "  The  seed  of  our  coming  is 
from  Hawaiki,  the  seed  of  food,  the  seed  of  men." 
Between  twenty  and  thirty  generations  ago  they 
migrated  to  Aotea,  the  north  island  of  New  Zealand. 
A  civil  war  raged  in  their  old  home  and  a  chief 
named  Ngahue  fled  across  the  seas  to  a  land  where 
greenstone  and  moas  abounded.  He  brought  back 

B 


2  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

with  him  specimens  of  greenstone  and  bones  of  a 
gigantic  moa,  and  was  received  by  his  kinsmen  with 
reverence  as  one  returned  from  the  dead.  He  ex- 
cited their  desire  and  curiosity  by  tales  of  the  new 
land,  descanting  on  its  beauty,  the  fish  in  the  sea, 
the  great  eels  in  the  rivers,  and  the  birds  in  the 
woods.  Strife  still  continued  in  their  unhappy 
fatherland,  and  the  weaker  party,  after  listening  to 
the  stories  of  Ngahue,  determined  to  migrate.  So 
they  felled  a  totara-tree  in  Raratonga  and  with  adzes 
made  from  Ngahue's  greenstone,  hewed  the  canoe 
"  Arawa,"  which  was  formed  of  two  canoes  lashed 
together,  with  a  deck  house  on  the  connecting  plat- 
form. Other  canoes  were  fashioned;  among  them 
the  "Tainui,"  the  "  Matatau,"  the  "  Tokomaru," 
the  "  Takitumu."  When  each  was  finished,  it  was 
freighted  with  store  of  sweet  potatoes,  gourds, 
taros,  and  with  rats,  dogs,  and  a  quantity  of  the 
sacred  red  paint.  As  these  "  pilgrim  fathers  "  were 
about  to  push  out  from  the  shore,  an  old  chief 
gave  them  his  benediction.  "  Depart  in  peace," 
said  he,  "  and  when  you  reach  the  place  you  are 
going  to,  do  not  follow  after  the  deeds  of  Tu. 
the  god  of  war:  depart  and  dwell  in  peace  with  all 
men,  leave  war  and  strife  behind  you."  The  pious 
wish  was  of  little  avail.  The  Maoris  brought  to 
New  Zealand  the  seeds  of  discord  as  well  as  the  taro 
and  the  kumera.  Before  the  voyage  began,  Tama- 
te-kapua,  chief  of  the  Arawa,  kidnapped  Ngaroto 
and  his  wife.  Xgaroto  was  chief  of  those  who 
sailed  in  the  Tainui  and  he  was  priest  and  magician 
as  well  as  chieftain.  Tama  gave  out  that  he  had  no 
skilful  priest  to  make  the  Arawa  "  common  " — for 
what  had  been  made  by  a  priest  was  tapu — and  to 
perform  the  rites  due  to  the  occasion ;  for  which  pur- 


THE  ARAWA.  3 

pose  he  invited  Ngaroto  and  his  wife  to  pay  a  visit 
to  the  Arawa.  They  fell  into  the  trap  and  were 
carried  off  by  the  unscrupulous  Tama,  stealer  of 
other  men's  wives.  Burning  with  anger  at  the  trick 
that  had  been  played  upon  him,  Ngaroto  resorted  to 
the  magic  arts  with  which  he  was  endowed.  "  He 
changed  the  stars  of  the  morning  into  those  of  the 
evening,  and  he  raised  the  winds  that  they  should 
blow  upon  the  prow  of  the  canoe  and  drive  it  astern ; 
and  the  crew  of  the  canoe  were  at  their  wits'  end, 
and  quite  forgot  their  skill,  and  the  canoe  dashed 
straight  into  the  whirlpool^  called  '  The  Throat  of 
Te  Parata.' '  It  was  only  when  the  canoe  was  on 
the  verge  of  destruction  that  Ngaroto  relented, 
moved  to  pity  by  the  shrieks  of  the  women  and 
children,  and  by  his  incantations  changed  the  aspect 
of  the  heavens.  Then  the  Arawa  emerged  in  safety 
from  the  throat  of  Te  Parata  and  sailed  on  with 
favouring  winds,  until  the  shores  of  Aotea  were  seen 
rising  from  the  sea.  When  the  voyagers  drew  near 
they  saw  the  pohutu-kawa  covered  with  red  flowers, 
which  were  reflected  in  the  still  water;  from  which 
circumstance  it  is  argued  that  their  coming  was  in 
the  summer-time.  On  landing  they  were  careful 
to  observe  the  due  ceremonies.  The  spirit  of  the 
new  land  they  addressed  on  this  wise : 

I  arrive  where  an  unknown  earth  is  under  my  feet, 
I  arrive  where  a  new  sky  is  above  me, 
I  arrive  at  this  land,  a  resting-place  for  me. 
O  spirit  of  the  Earth  !  the  stranger  humbly  offers  his  heart 
As  food  for  thee. 

The  landing  was  at  Whanga-Paroa,  where  they 
planted  sweet  potatoes.  Wandering  along  the  shore, 
they  fell  in  with  the  people  of  the  "Tainui,"  and 


4:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

straightway  a  dispute  arose  as  to  which  canoe  had 
arrived  first.  The  rights  of  the  matter  need  not  oc- 
cupy us  here,  however. 

Storms  had  scattered  the  fleet,  and  consequently 
the  canoes  arrived  at  different  times  and  landed  at 
different  places.  The  landing  places  were  held 
sacred  and  the  principal  tribes  trace  their  origin  to 
special  canoes.  Thus  the  "  Tainui "  brought  the 
ancestors  of  the  Waikato  and  Thames  tribes,  and  the 
crew  of  the  "  Arawa  "  settled  first  at  Maketu,  in  the 
Bay  of  Plenty,  offshoots  proceeding  to  Rotorua  and 
afterwards  as  far  south  as  Wanganui. 

What  kernel  of  fact  is  concealed  in  this  legend  is 
still  a  matter  upon  which  the  learned  are  divided. 
Some  prove,  to  their  own  satisfaction,  that  Hawaiki 
must  be  Hawaii  or  Savaii  (in  the  Navigator 
Islands),  or  some  other  island  or  group  of  Polynesia. 
Others  point  out  that  the  story  of  a  migration  from 
Hawaiki  is  a  piece  of  lore  common  to  the  inhabitants 
of  many  of  the  islands  now  occupied  by  the  brown 
Polynesian.  The  sailing  direction  mentioned  in 
the  legends  is  also  against  the  theory  that  the  Maoris 
came  to  New  Zealand  from  the  East.  "  When  you 
go,  look  at  the  rising  of  the  star  and  the  sun,  and 
keep  the  prow  of  your  canoe  to  it."  This  is  plain 
indication  that  their  course  was  from  the  west.  It 
may  be,  however,  that  the  legend  confuses  the  final 
migration  to  New  Zealand  with  the  original  migra- 
tion of  the  race  from  the  south  of  Asia.  Mr. 
Tregear's  suggestion  that  Hawaiki  is  simply  "Avaiki 
the  nether  world — that  which  sunk  behind  them  at 
the  stern  of  their  canoes,"  is  worth  noting. 

It  is  plain  that  the  fair  Polynesians  have  a  com- 
mon parentage.  Speech  and  appearance  declare 
their  unity;  but  whence  the  race  came,  like  the 


THE  ARAWA.  5 

whereabouts  of  Hawaiki,  is  still  a  subject  of  debate 
among  ethnologists,  whose  theories  may  be  found  by 
the  curious  in  the  pages  of  the  Polynesian  Review. 
The  latest  theory  may  be  stated  as  follows : 

Ages  ago,  several  thousand  years  ago,  it  may  be, 
the  Maori  race  dwelt  in  India,  "  on  the  plains  and 
foothills  of  the  Himalaya  with  their  borders  touch- 
ing the  sea  on  the  Persian  Gulf."  Even  at  that 
remote  period  they  were  daring  seamen,  who  traded 
with  Persia  and  Arabia,  and  borrowed  words  from 
the  Semitic  races  with  whom  they  came  in  contact. 
Then  came  the  Aryan  invasion,  before  which  the 
Maoris,  an  inferior  race,  retreated,  but  not  before 
they  had  borrowed  some  tincture  of  the  language 
and  civilisation  of  the  intruders.  There  was  but 
one  line  of  retreat — towards  the  rising  sun,  where 
previous  voyages  had  no  doubt  disclosed  the 
existence  of  countless  islands.  The  migration  be- 
gan and  was  continued  through  centuries,  for  all 
these  great  ethnic  movements  require  time.  From 
many  of  the  islands  they  ousted  an  original  negrito 
race  whose  descendants  may  still  be  found  in  what  is 
called  Melanesia.  In  some  cases  black  and  brown 
intermarried.  Continued  pressure  of  Aryans  and 
Malayans  drove  them  onward  until  they  spread  over 
most  of  the  islands  of  the  tropical  Pacific.  During 
their  many  voyages,  they  gained  still  greater 
mastery  of  the  sea,  and  extended  their  discoveries 
even  to  the  far  north.  The  ancestors  of  the  fair 
Polynesians,  whose  voyages  in  canoes  still  excite  our 
wonder,  have  some  title,  indeed,  to  be  called  the 
most  daring  navigators  of  the  Pacific. 

Passing  from  New  Guinea,  the  Solomon  Islands, 
the  New  Hebrides  and  Fiji,  of  which  the  black  race 
had  a  strong  hold,  the  Maori  successively  occupied 


6  PROGRESS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Samoa,  Tahiti,  Raratonga,  all  of  which  may  be  in- 
cluded under  the  term  Hawaiki.  From  some  of 
these  islands  came  the  forebears  of  the  New  Zealand 
Maoris.  The  papatupunas  or  notched  sticks  kept 
by  the  tohungas  indicate  that  from  twenty  to  thirty 
generations  have  passed  since  the  Maori  Columbus 
showed  the  way  to  New  Zealand.  This  would  place 
the  date  of  their  migration  somewhere  in  the 
fourteenth  or  fifteenth  century. 

Recent  researches  appear  to  give  colour  to  the 
theory  that  New  Zealand  was  already  inhabited, 
perhaps  by  an  earlier  wave  of  the  same  people. 
Various  legends  refer  to  conflicts  between  the  emi- 
grants and  the  original  inhabitants.  The  whole 
subject,  however,  is  a  tissue  of  conjecture. 


MAORILAND. 


CHAPTER  II. 
MAORILAND. 

THE  islands  known  in  Maori  legends  as  Aotea  or 
Aotearoa  are  separated  from  the  continent  of  Aus- 
tralia by  1250  miles  of  deep  sea.  The  group  con- 
sists of  two  large  islands,  the  North  Island,  called 
by  the  Maoris  Te  Ika  a  Mauif  the  Fish  of  Maui,  and 
the  Middle  Island,  Te  Wai  Pounamu,  the  Place  of 
Greenstone,  and  a  smaller  island  known  as  Stewart's 
Island.  Besides  these  there  are  many  small  coastal 
islands  and  a  few  groups  that  stand  sentinels  at 
some  distance  from  the  mainland.  The  total  area 
is  104,471  square  miles.  New  Zealand — for  Aotea 
is  now  a  fancy  name  pure  and  simple, — is  therefore 
a  little  larger  than  Italy,  which  it  resembles  in 
shape,  climate,  and  physical  character,  and  a  little 
smaller  than  the  United  Kingdom.  On  the  map  it 
reminds  one  of  Euclid's  definition  of  a  line,  length 
without  breadth,  for  it  extends  through  fourteen 
degrees  of  latitude  and  its  average  breadth  is  about 
100  miles. 

The  North  Island  is  on  the  whole  mountainous, 
yet  there  is  a  large  area  of  level  or  undulating 
country  suitable  for  pastoral  and  agricultural  pur- 
poses. It  is  well  watered  land;  and  at  the  coming 
of  the  Maori  densely  wooded,  but  the  progress  of 
cultivation  is  rapidly  diminishing  the  area  of  the 
original  forest.  In  the  centre  lie  the  blue  and  un- 
plumbed  waters  of  Lake  Taupo,  out  of  which  issues 


8  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  Waikato,  the  largest  river  of  the  island  and 
navigable  for  100  miles  from  its  mouth.  To  the 
south  of  the  lake  rise  the  cones  of  Ruapehu  (9195 
feet)  and  Tongariro  (8000  feet),  the  latter  an 
active  volcano ;  whilst  in  the  south-western  corner  of 
the  island,  Mount  Egmont,  a  dead  volcano,  rises  in 
solitary  grandeur  from  the  low  lying  hills  of  Ta- 
ranaki.  North  of  Taupo  is  the  region  of  thermal 
lakes  and  springs,  which  form  one  of  the  weirdest 
districts  in  the  world.  Everywhere  in  the  North 
Island  are  signs  of  volcanic  action.  Tongariro 
and  White  Island  are  still  active;  Tarawera,  after 
its  violent  outburst  in  1886,  is  now  dormant; 
Ruapehu  has  still  sufficient  heat  to  keep  warm  the 
lake  that  fills  its  crater ;  and  Rangitoto,  which  faces 
the  beautiful  city  of  Auckland  and  dominates  the 
harbour,  though  it  has  not  been  active  within  the 
memory  of  man,  has  not  had  time  to  cover  up  its 
latest  wounds  with  vegetation.  As  for  smaller  ex- 
tinct volcanoes,  their  name  is  legion. 

The  Middle  Island,  or  as  it  is  popularly  called, 
the  South  Island,  is  more  compact  in  shape  and  more 
rugged  in  configuration.  Its  whole  length  is  tra- 
versed by  the  Southern  Alps  which,  at  various 
points,  rise  above  10,000  feet,  Mount  Cook  being 
12,349  feet  high.  In  the  valleys  of  these  mountains 
are  vast  glaciers  and  deep  glacial  lakes  which  feed 
innumerable  streams.  The  south-western  corner  of 
the  island  contains  a  series  of  fiords  not  surpassed 
by  anything  in  Norway,  and  the  coast  of  Marl- 
borough  is  indented  by  many  winding  inlets  of  re- 
markable beauty.  Fire  has  carved  the  features  of 
the  North  Island;  those  of  the  Middle  Island  have 
been  hewed  into  their  present  shape  by  wind,  water, 
and  ice,  which  have  formed  out  of  the  attrition  of 


MAORILAND.  9 

the  Alps  the  largest  level  tract  of  country  in  New 
Zealand,  the  Canterbury  Plains. 

Mountainous,  well  wooded  and  well  watered; 
long  and  narrow,  with  a  large  coast  line  and  many 
harbours;  an  ideal  home  for  the  descendants  of  a 
maritime  people.  Such  is  the  land  to  which  the 
Maoris  came  about  500  years  ago,  and  the  English 
colonists  less  than  a  century  ago.  As  the  Maoris 
paddled  their  canoes  along  the  shores  or  up  the 
rivers,  or  forced  their  way  through  dense  forests  or 
gazed  from  lofty  mountains  upon  lakes  and  fertile 
valleys,  they  must  have  become  more  and  more  con- 
tented with  their  choice.  They  valued  the  country, 
chiefly,  no  doubt,  for  the  abundance  of  fish  and 
birds,  and  for  the  fertility  of  the  soil ;  but  the  land- 
scape with  its  strange  blending  of  weird,  fantastic, 
and  beautiful,  must  have  appealed  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  a  people  who  were  sufficiently  advanced  to 
compose  passable  romances  and  poems.  At  the 
present  day  New  Zealand  is  the  Switzerland  of  the 
South  Pacific.  But  happily  it  is  much  more  than 
a  show  place ;  its  natural  features  are  useful  as  well 
as  ornamental,  if  one  may  borrow  a  phrase  from  the 
horticulturist.  The  "  Canterbury  Pilgrims,"  who 
prided  themselves  on  their  classical  training,  loved 
to  compare  New  Zealand  witn  Greece,  a  land 
divided  by  sea  and  mountain  into  many  districts,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  were  enabled  to  develop  special 
and  individual  characteristics. 

To  measure  history  with  a  Greek  measuring-rod 
is  not  always  the  best  way  of  getting  at  the  truth, 
but  the  "  Pilgrims  "  were  to  a  certain  extent  right. 
The  traveller  of  to-day  finds  something  peculiar  and 
distinct  in  each  of  the  larger  cities;  but  this  di- 
vergence, due  partly  to  the  original  settlers,  partly 


10  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

to  climate — for  New  Zealand  boasts  specimens  of 
all  climates — and  partly  to  the  physical  features, 
which  regulate  the  industries  pursued  in  different 
localities,  will  never  proceed  as  far  as  it  did  in 
Greece;  it  will  merely  give  variety  and  an  interest- 
ing complexity.  New  Zealand  has  all  the  natural 
endowments  for  producing  a  great  nation;  she  pos- 
sesses every  type  of  scenery — savage  mountains 
scored  by  storms  or  rent  by  fire,  ravines  filled  with 
the  rankest  tropical  forests,  breezy  uplands,  inland 
lakes  and  coastal  fiords  that  are  almost  lakes,  geysers 
and  volcanoes,  fertile  plains  and  valleys;  and  her 
resources  are  equally  rich  and  varied.  Her  people 
will  be  gardeners,  graziers,  miners,  manufacturers, 
sailors;  and  one  may  hope  that  the  originality  they 
have  already  shown  in  politics  will  not  be  wanting 
in  literature  and  art 

To  come  to  details,  the  most  remarkable  natural 
features  are  the  Hot  Lakes  of  the  North  Island,  the 
Alps,  Alpine  lakes  and  fiords  of  the  South  Island, 
and  the  vegetation  which  clothes  and  gives  distinc- 
tion to  the  landscape. 

Lake  Taupo  lies  in  the  heart  of  a  wonderland,  a 
vast  workshop  of  Vulcan.  It  is  encircled  by  many 
volcanic  cones,  and  the  Waikato  after  leaving  it  and 
plunging  through  a  rocky  defile,  swirls  through  a 
region  where  the  hot  nether  waters,  coming  to  the 
surface  through  countless  geysers,  fill  the  air  with 
vapour  and  pour  hissing  streams  into  the  river. 
Forty  miles  to  the  north  of  the  great  lake  is  a  cluster 
of  about  twenty  smaller  lakes,  surrounded  by  hun- 
dreds of  hot  springs,  solf ataras,  fumaroles ;  the  whole 
region  a  series  of  caldrons  kept  at  boiling  point  by 
immense  furnaces  so  near  the  surface  that  in  places 
the  tourist  can  feel  the  glow  through  the  soles  of  his 


MAORILAND.  H 

boots  or  light  his  pipe  with  his  walking-stick  thrust 
into  a  fissure  in  the  crust  of  earth  upon  which  he 
treads.  On  the  eastern  side  of  Tarawera,  the  largest 
lake  of  the  district,  is  Mount  Tarawera  which  in 
1886  burst  into  sudden  and  violent  eruption, 
destroying  the  Pink  and  the  White  Terraces,  and 
desolating  the  whole  of  the  adjoining  country. 
Perhaps  in  the  course  of  ages  another  Te  Tarata 
may  be  formed  to  challenge  by  its  magic  beauty  the 
admiration  of  future  travellers  to  the  Britain  of  the 
South. 

From  this  region  of  weird  sights  and  equally 
weird  noises  it  is  a  great  contrast  to  turn  to  the  Alps 
of  the  South  Island.  Viewed  from  the  Canterbury 
Plains,  the  Alps  are  a  gigantic  rampart  of  serrated 
mountains,  the  higher  peaks  of  which  are  covered 
with  perennial  snow.  In  winter,  after  a  storm, 
they  are  white  from  summit  to  base  and  shine  with 
so  dazzling  a  brilliancy  that  the  eye  seeks  rest  by 
dwelling  on  the  tawny  tussock-covered  plains,  or  the 
farm  lands  whose  homesteads,  girt  for  the  most  part 
with  plantations  of  blue-gum,  stretch  north  and 
south  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach. 

On  the  eastern  side,  the  Alps  and  their  foothills 
are  bare  and  brown,  forests  being  found  only  in 
moist  and  protected  valleys.  The  western  side  pre- 
sents a  marked  contrast.  Here  the  westerly  winds 
deposit  their  moisture  on  coming  into  contact  with 
the  mountains.  The  rainfall  is  excessive  and  the 
result  is  that  all  the  gorges,  ravines,  and  valleys  to 
the  west  are  choked  up  by  luxuriant  vegetation. 
The  rivers  are  short,  little  more  than  brawling  moun- 
tain torrents  that  plunge  through  rocky  gorges  and 
wet,  gloomy  forests,  across  a  narrow  strip  of  flat  land 
to  the  sea.  On  the  Canterbury  side,  the  rivers  have 


12  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

further  to  run,  but  are  not  essentially  different  in 
character.  Originating  in  Alpine  lakes  and  gla- 
ciers, they  rush  rapidly  down  to  the  plains  where 
they  flow  over  wide  shingly  beds,  which  in  flood  time 
are  covered  by  great  sheets  of  foaming  water.  Dur- 
ing the  course  of  ages  their  channels  have  become 
deeper  and  more  confined,  leaving  on  either  side  a 
series  of  terraces,  the  outermost  of  which  are  often 
several  miles  apart.  All  these  rivers  are  liable  to 
sudden  floods,  owing  to  heavy  rains  in  the  mountains 
or  to  the  melting  of  the  snow  on  the  eastern  slopes. 

The  Alpine  scenery  with  its  lakes,  glaciers, 
scarped  and  jagged  peaks,  is  little,  if  at  all,  inferior 
to  that  of  the  Alps  in  Europe.  Lake  Wakatipu 
may  be  taken  as  one  of  the  best  examples  of  lake 
scenery.  It  is  50  miles  in  length  and  is  surrounded 
by  forest-clad  mountains  which  vary  in  height  from 
5000  to  9000  feet.  Mount  Earnshaw,  9165  feet 
high,  dominates  the  whole  scene  with  its  icy  peaks 
and  glaciers.  In  the  south  of  Canterbury,  the  moun- 
tain system  culminates  in  a  region  of  which  Mount 
Cook  is  the  central  feature.  The  fact  that  the  snow 
line  in  New  Zealand  is  much  lower  than  in  Switzer- 
land gives  a  variety  to  this  region  which  is  wanting 
to  the  Alps  of  Europe.  The  great  Tasman  Glacier 
is  larger  than  any  in  Europe  and  is  remarkable  for 
the  immense  quantity  of  debris  brought  down  by  its 
moraines.  Mr.  Green  in  The  High  Alps  of  New 
Zealand  has  thus  described  the  scene  which  met  his 
gaze  when  he  ascended  the  Tasman  Glacier : — "  No 
words  at  my  command  can  express  our  feelings  when 
we  stood  for  the  first  time  in  the  midst  of  that 
glorious  panorama.  I  tried  vainly  to  recall  the 
view  in  Switzerland  on  the  Great  Aletsch  Glacier, 
in  front  of  the  Concordia  Hut,  to  establish  some 


MAORILAND.  13 

standard  of  comparison.  Then  I  tried  the  Gorner 
Glacier,  on  the  way  to  Monte  Rosa;  but  the  present 
scene  so  completely  asserted  its  own  grandeur  that 
we  all  felt  compelled  to  confess  in  that  instant  that 
it  surpassed  anything  we  had  ever  seen 
Mount  Tasman  was  hidden  by  the  shoulder  of  Mount 
Cook,  but  the  great  ice-fall  of  the  Hochetter  Glacier 
pouring  down  from  the  hollow  between  these  two 
mountains  presented  us  with  as  grand  a  spectacle 
as  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  Rising  beyond  this 
glacier,  the  square-topped  Mount  Haidinger,  robed 
in  white  glaciers,  stood  as  the  next  worthy  member 
of  this  giant  family.  After  dwelling  on  some 
smaller  peaks  our  eyes  swept  round  to  the  great  mass 
of  Mount  de  la  Beche,  looking  something  like  Monte 
Rosa,  and  occupying  a  conspicuous  position  between 
two  main  branches  of  the  glacier.  Farther  off, 
Mount  Elie  de  Beaumont  appeared,  and  then  the 
great  buttresses  of  the  Malte  Brun  range,  which 
flanked  the  side  of  the  glacier  opposite  Mount  Cook, 
and  shut  out  from  our  view  its  own  finest  peak  and 
Mount  Darwin  beyond.  The  glacier  on  which  we 
stood  having  area  about  twice  as  great  as  that  of  the 
Great  Aletsch,  the  largest  glacier  in  Europe,  is 
really  a  union  of  many  fine  streams  of  ice,  which, 
coming  in  on  all  sides  in  graceful  curves,  bear  along 
their  tale  of  boulders  to  swell  the  great  rampart  of 
moraine  which  gave  us  such  difficulty  to  surmount. 
We  counted  in  all  thirty  distinct  glaciers  in  sight 
together." 

The  fiords  to  the  south-west  of  Otago  are  more 
attractive  and  almost  equally  imposing.  Some  of 
them  are  of  great  extent  and  are  surrounded  by 
almost  inaccessible  mountains.  The  most  typical, 
perhaps,  as  well  as  the  best  known,  is  Milford 


14  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Sound.  The  entrance  is  narrow  and  guarded  by 
almost  vertical  precipices  several  thousand  feet  in 
height,  their  rugged  sides  draped  with  greenery, 
tree-ferns  and  shrubs  growing  in  clefts  wherever  they 
can  get  a  footing.  Slender  waterfalls  plunge  into 
space  and  are  immediately  dissipated  into  thin 
vapour,  which  sprays  perpetually  the  vegetation  that 
clasps  and  adorns  the  rocks.  Some  miles  from  the 
entrance  is  the  Bowen  Fall,  which,  with  deafening 
roar,  takes  a  sheer  leap  of  300  feet  to  the  sea.  In 
the  valley  at  the  head  of  the  inlet  is  a  tangled  forest, 
where  every  tree  is  loaded  with  lichen  and  ferns. 

Next  to  the  configuration  of  the  land,  the  vegeta- 
tion of  New  Zealand  is  that  which  most  catches  the 
eye.  Although  far  from  rich  in  species,  the  vegeta- 
tion is  striking  and  luxuriant.  The  majority  of  the 
species  are  peculiar  to  the  Colony,  which  botanically 
seems  rather  to  connect  itself  with  South  America 
than  with  Australia,  for  there  is  in  New  Zealand  not 
a  single  species  of  the  eucalyptus  or  acacia  so 
characteristic  of  Australia.  The  forest  of  New  Zea- 
land consists  chiefly  of  varieties  of  pines,  of  which 
the  kauri  is  the  most  notable  example,  but  many 
other  species  are  intermingled  with  the  pines,  and 
give  richness  to  the  foliage.  Everywhere  is  great 
wealth  of  ferns :  common  bracken  runs  riot  over  the 
spurs  and  in  the  gullies,  and  gigantic  tree-ferns 
flourish  in  the  depths  of  the  woods,  the  trees  in 
which  are  bound  together  by  lianas  and  covered  by 
parasitic  growths  which  thrive  in  wonderful  luxu- 
riance. Botanically  New  Zealand  is  poor  in  flower- 
ing plants,  but  the  traveller  who  has  seen  whole  hill- 
sides ablaze  with  rata  or  trees  crowned  with  masses 
of  clematis  will  have  little  cause  for  complaint.  It 
is  difficult  to  understand  Hooker's  assertion  that  the 


MAORILAND.  15 

forests  of  New  Zealand  are  monotonous  and  unin- 
teresting in  aspect.  Probably  the  exact  contrary  is 
nearer  the  truth.  The  absence  of  singing  birds  and 
the  silence  of  the  great  woods,  the  dark  green,  almost 
sombre  hue  of  the  foliage  in  certain  aspects,  may 
have  suggested  Hooker's  remark.  But  the  settler 
who  has  seen  the  forests  in  every  mood  and  season, 
will  feel  little  inclined  to  call  them  monotonous  or 
uninteresting. 

The  plains  and  the  lower  spurs  of  the  hills  are 
covered  with  native  grasses  and  dotted  over  with  yel- 
low tussocks,  the  prevailing  colours  being  brown  and 
yellow.  The  swamps  are  overgrown  with  flax, 
"  nigger-heads,"  and  the  graceful  feathery  toi-toi 
and  raupo.  Flax  was  to  the  Maori  what  bamboo  is 
to  the  Chinaman.  Out  of  it  he  made  mats,  kits, 
mantles,  fishing  lines,  and  ropes  for  binding  the 
roofs  and  walls  of  whares ;  and  in  the  early  days  it 
was  a  valuable  article  of  trade. 

When  white  men  first  came  to  New  Zealand 
they  found  only  two  specimens  of  mammals — the 
native  rat  or  Tciore  and  two  small  bats.  The  Tciore 
is  very  like  the  ordinary  rat  in  appearance,  but,  un- 
like the  ordinary  rat,  it  has  not  cultivated  a  taste  for 
human  habitations,  and  is  rarely  to  be  seen  except  in 
the  bush,  where  it  lives  "  on  roots  and  berries."  Mr. 
Edward  Wakefield  in  New  Zealand  after  Fifty 
Years  tells  a  story  of  this  animal  which,  if  it  be  true, 
is  so  singular  and  interesting  as  to  deserve  repeti- 
tion. "  There  are  times  when  it  makes  its  ap- 
pearance in  vast  numbers,  coming  no  one  knows 
whence  and  going  no  one  knows  whither,  yet  evi- 
dently governed  by  some  irresistible  law  of  nature. 
Three  or  four  years  ago  such  a  visitation  of  rats  oc- 
curred on  the  west  coast  of  the  Middle  Island,  a 


16  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

countless  swarm  of  these  little  creatures  travelling 
southward  along  the  shore  for  a  distance  of  more 
than  150  miles  all  going  one  way  and  all  moving  as 
fast  as  they  could,  as  if  impelled  by  an  inexorable 
destiny,  in  spite  of  all  sorts  of  obstacles.  A  large 
proportion  of  them  died  of  hunger  by  the  way,  and 
the  moving  host  were  exposed  throughout  their 
journey  to  terrible  inroads  by  the  acclimatised  brown 
rat,  a  much  stronger  and  fiercer  animal  than  the 
kiore:  just  as  the  revolted  Tartars  in  their  famous 
flight  across  Asia  in  the  last  century  were  pursued 
and  assailed  by  the  Cossacks  and  other  ferocious 
nomads  the  whole  way  from  the  confines  of  Russia 
to  the  territory  of  the  Chinese  Emperor. 

"  After  passing  in  a  ceaseless  procession  along  the 
shore  for  some  months,  the  rats  vanished  as  suddenly 
and  as  mysteriously  as  they  had  appeared;  and  to 
this  day  no  one  has  been  able  to  offer  even  a  plau- 
sible theory  regarding  them.  .  .  .  The  most  in- 
credible fact  connected  with  this  strange  migration 
remains  to  be  stated.  From  many  observations 
taken  at  various  points  in  the  line  of  march  of  this 
grand  army,  it  was  ascertained,  apparently  beyond 
dispute,  that  they  consisted  solely  of  males,  not  a 
single  female  being  found  among  great  numbers  of 
live  or  dead  ones  that  were  examined." 

This  singular  animal,  and  the  two  bats  and  a  few 
seals  complete  the  list  of  ISTew  Zealand  mammals. 
Snakes  are  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  Reptiles 
are  represented  only  by  lizards  and  the  odd-looking 
tuatara,  a  sort  of  iguana,  whose  life  is  so  sluggish 
as  to  be  almost  indistinguishable  from  death.  It 
seems  to  be  the  sole  survivor  of  an  age  long  since  de- 
parted. The  birds  are  numerous,  and  some  of  them 
are  almost  as  peculiar  as  the  tuatara.  The  Kiwi  or 


MAOEILAND.  17 

Apteryx,  for  example,  has  no  wings,  no  tail,  and  is 
covered  with  soft,  furlike  hair,  that  seems  to  have 
little  resemblance  to  feathers.  Its  relation,  the 
welca  or  wood-hen,  boasts  something  of  a  tail,  but 
its  wings  have  been  nipped  in  the  bud.  These  two 
are  of  the  same  race  as  the  extinct  moa,  a  gigantic 
wingless  bird,  which,  to  judge  from  numerous  skele- 
tons found  in  various  parts  of  New  Zealand,  must 
have  stood  twelve  feet  high  or  more.  It  had  massive 
legs  and  must  have  been  a  powerful  runner.  Bones 
found  near  ancient  cooking  ovens  prove  that  it  was 
at  one  time  hunted  for  food,  but  how  long  ago  is  only 
a  matter  of  conjecture. 

Hardly  less  remarkable  is  the  Tcea,  a  gregarious 
nocturnal  parrot  which  has  made  for  itself  an  in- 
vidious reputation  among  the  colonists.  Its  natural 
food  consisted  of  berries,  but  recently  it  has  become 
carnivorous  and  is  very  destructive  to  sheep.  Set- 
tling on  the  back  of  the  animal,  it  tears  away 
skin  and  flesh  until  it  reaches  the  kidney  fat,  of 
which  it  is  very  fond.  How  it  arrived  at  its  present 
degree  of  anatomical  skill  is  a  problem  of  which  no 
satisfactory  solution  has  been  offered. 

Among  other  birds  worthy  of  mention  are  the  iui 
or  parson  bird,  which  has  a  very  musical  note:  the 
wood  pigeon;  and  the  paradise  duck,  a  large  and 
handsome  bird,  at  one  time  plentiful  on  the  lakes 
and  rivers  of  the  South  Island.  With  the  exception 
of  the  tui,  the  forests  of  New  Zealand  have  few 
singing  birds. 

As  has  been  mentioned  before,  the  islands  have 
specimens  of  all  climates.  On  the  whole,  however, 
the  climate  may  be  described  as  temperate  and  brac- 
ing. In  the  north  it  is  semi-tropical  inclined  to  be 
humid  as  well  as  hot,  and  not  unlike  that  of  Sydney ; 

c 


]8  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

•whilst  in  Canterbury  and  Otago  the  winters  are 
often  severe,  snow-storms  occasionally  occurring  even 
on  the  plains  and  frosts  prevailing  for  several 
months  of  the  year.  The  comparatively  cold  cli- 
mate of  the  Middle  Island  is  no  doubt  one  of  the 
reasons  why  the  Maoris,  a  tropical  race,  never  in- 
creased to  any  great  extent  south  of  Cook's  Strait. 

The  rainfall  is  about  equal  to  that  of  England; 
but  although  the  atmosphere  is  humid,  the  skies  are 
brighter  than  English  skies.  The  air  is  never  stag- 
nant, but  is  stirred  by  breezes  and  winds  which  keep 
it  pure  and  wholesome.  In  Canterbury  the  north- 
west wind  brings  a  taste  of  the  scorching  heat  of 
Australia  and  is  the  bane  of  the  farmer  who  has 
wheat  fields  ripe  for  the  harvest.  With  this  single 
exception,  New  Zealand  welcomes  all  the  winds  that 
blow. 

The  great  mineral  resources  of  New  Zealand  may 
be  left  to  future  chapters  dealing  with  industrial 
developments. 


THE  MAORI.  19 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE  MAOEI. 

THE  Maori  is  no  longer  what  he  was,  a  stalwart 
barbarian  with  a  crude  yet  sufficient  polity  of  his 
own,  but  a  thing  of  shreds  and  patches,  neither  civi- 
lised nor  frankly  savage.  He  is  still  interesting, 
however;  his  presence  among  the  pushing  Anglo- 
Saxons  lends  a  romantic  colour  to  life  in  New  Zea- 
land; and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  his  race  is 
doomed  to  extinction  by  the  pakeha  civilisation.  Of 
late  there  has  been  a  new  movement  of  life  among 
the  Maoris,  a  recognition  by  the  more  intelligent 
that  they  must  adapt  themselves  to  altered  conditions 
and  ways  of  life. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  describe  the  appearance 
of  a  typical  Maori.  Brown  skinned,  heavily  built, 
tall,  often  six  feet  and  over;  nose  short  and  broad; 
forehead  high  and  sloping;  lank  hair  and  scanty 
beard;  mouth  coarse;  such  are  some  of  the  epithets 
applicable  to  the  type.  In  their  native  habiliments 
Maori  men  look  natural  and  dignified;  in  the  gar- 
ments of  white  men  their  appearance  is  somewhat 
squat  and  vulgar,  and  frequently  ludicrous  on 
account  of  their  eccentric  taste  in  dress.  Their 
speech  is  singularly  musical,  but  with  something  of 
a  wail  in  it.  When  we  first  knew  them  they  tattooed 
their  faces  and  bodies  in  a  most  elaborate  manner; 
the  art  of  tattooing  being  highly  valued,  and  the 
artist  held  in  great  respect.  Both  men  and  women 


20  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

perforated  the  lobes  of  the  ears  and  suspended  from 
them  pieces  of  green  jade,  sharks'  teeth,  and  other 
ornaments;  and  the  men  practised  the  singular  cus- 
tom which  English  sailors  referred  to  as  "  sprit- 
sail-yarding  "  the  nose. 

It  is  somewhat  of  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  they 
have  the  minds  of  children  and  the  passions  of  men. 
Judged  by  European  ways  of  thought,  their  actions 
and  reasoning  must  often  have  appeared  childish  and 
inconsequent.  But  the  Maori  was  more  than  a 
child:  when  dealing  with  the  ordinary  relations  of 
life  he  could  be  astute,  subtle,  penetrating.  Mis- 
sionaries and  teachers  found  them  lacking  in  power 
of  steady  attention ;  and  christianised  Maoris  excited 
the  laughter  of  the  profane  by  the  strange  manner  in 
which  they  jumbled  together  facts  given  them  by  the 
missionaries  and  facts  and  thoughts  common  to  their 
own  race.  This  was  inevitable,  but  it  is  hardly  to 
be  taken  as  a  proof  of  intellectual  feebleness.  In 
spite  of  their  adherence  to  superstitions  that  seem  to 
us  puerile,  the  Maoris  possessed  a  considerable  fund 
of  common  sense,  of  wit  and  humour ;  and  they  were 
always  quick  to  see  through  shams  and  detect  insin- 
cerity. They  were  proud,  vain,  arrogant,  boastful; 
yet  chivalrous,  polite,  and  amenable  to  reason. 
Warriors  and  athletes,  they  were  nevertheless  slow 
to  begin  the  fight.  Their  caution  had  to  be  over- 
come by  songs  and  flights  of  oratory  calculated  to 
inflame  the  passions ;  and  they  rushed  to  battle  only 
when  they  had  excited  themselves  to  frenzy,  and 
when  they  had  exhausted  upon  their  enemies  all  the 
scurrilous  epithets  and  insulting  references  their 
language  was  capable  of  conveying.  They  forgot 
easily;  even  an  insult  passed  out  of  their  minds  as 
soon  as  it  was  avenged — but  not  till  then.  Their 


THE  MAORI.  21 

feelings  were  easily  stirred,  like  those  of  children: 
mood  succeeded  mood  with  astonishing  rapidity; 
tears  flowed  at  pleasure  and  did  not  always  denote 
depth  of  feeling.  There  is  something  of  the  Celt  in 
the  Maoris;  a  sensitive  quality  which  makes  them 
singers  of  songs  and  orators  capable  of  playing  at 
will  upon  the  emotions  of  their  countrymen.  Their 
virtues  were  bravery,  dignity  of  manner,  courtesy, 
hospitality,  command  of  temper;  their  vices  were 
those  of  a  tropical  people,  indolence,  cruelty,  want 
of  cleanliness,  and  sensuality. 

From  the  first  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand  were 
divided  into  nations  and  tribes;  the  original  chief- 
tains being  the  leaders  of  the  emigrant  canoes.  No 
iron  system  of  caste  existed  as  in  India;  but  the 
Maori  tribe  had  its  well  defined  classes.  At  the  head 
of  all  the  ariki  or  priest  and  chief,  the  two  being 
usually  combined;  then  came  the  tana,  the  royal 
family,  the  rangatira,  nobles,  the  iuiua,  the  middle 
class,  the  ware,  the  lower  class,  and  last  of  all  the 
tourdkareka,  the  slaves. 

The  chiefs  were  by  no  means  despotic.  Although 
their  persons  were  sacred  and  hedged  about  with  a 
sort  of  divinity,  they  had  frequently  to  bow  to  the 
force  of  public  opinion.  They  could  not  declare 
peace  or  war  without  the  consent  of  tlie  majority  of 
the  tribe,  and  every  freeman  had  the  right  of  voicing 
his  opinion  in  the  assemblies.  Many  chiefs,  it  is 
true,  claimed  to  be  more  than  men.  "  Think  not  that 
I  am  a  man,"  said  Te  Heu  Heu,  "  that  my  origin  is 
of  earth.  I  come  from  the  heavens:  my  ancestors 
are  all  there:  they  are  gods  and  I  shall  return  to 
them."  But  it  frequently  happened  that  they  were 
surpassed  in  war  and  in  the  arts  of  peace  by  some 
less  high-born  follower;  and  this  eminence  of  a  sub- 


22  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ject  was  never  regarded  as  an  affront.  It  would 
thus  appear  that  the  Maoris  were  aristocratic  in  their 
social  relations,  and  democratic  in  politics. 

The  Maori  tribe  was  a  commune  organised  for 
peace  or  war.  Its  communal  character  escaped  the 
notice  of  the  early  settlers,  who  were  extremely  puz- 
zled to  understand  the  nature  of  Maori  customs  and 
especially  their  land  laws.  It  was  plain,  however, 
that  the  natives  clung  tenaciously  to  their  land  and 
were  only  tempted  to  part  with  it  to  obtain  tobacco, 
powder  and  muskets,  which  latter  were  essential  to 
success  in  all  their  later  wars.  There  was  no  in- 
dividual ownership  in  the  English  sense.  When  an 
individual  cleared  a  patch  of  forest  and  cultivated 
it,  it  was  recognised  as  his  property;  but  he  had  no 
right  to  sell  without  the  permission  of  the  tribe. 
The  land  was  the  property  of  the  tribe  and  none  of 
it  could  be  disposed  of  without  the  sanction  of  the 
tribe.  In  the  land-sharking  days  and  afterwards, 
ignorance  of  this  principle  led  to  serious  conflicts. 
Individual  Maoris,  sometimes  in  ignorance  and 
sometimes  with  intent  to  cheat  the  pakeha,  took  pay- 
ment for  pieces  of  land,  but  it  frequently  happened 
that  the  tribe,  with  perfect  justice  from  the  Maori 
point  of  view,  declined  to  recognise  the  transaction. 

The  Maoris  had  no  desire  to  accumulate  wealth  or 
property.  A  large  catch  of  fish  was  valued  merely 
because  it  permitted  a  lavish  hospitality.  So  in 
other  matters  it  was  deemed  a  disgrace  to  possess 
riches  except  for  the  purpose  of  squandering  it. 
The  father  did  not  accumulate  for  the  spending  of 
the  son :  his  weapons  of  war,  whatever  belongings  he 
set  most  store  by,  were  interred  with  his  bones. 
Under  these  circumstances  and  in  a  country  where 
food  was  obtainable  at  a  moderate  expenditure  of 


THE  MAORI.  23 

labour,  there  were  no  glaring  inequalities  of  social 
condition.  None  were  rich  and  none  were  abso- 
lutely destitute.  Even  the  lazy  man  whose  "  throat 
was  deep  "  could  get  himself  fed,  and  the  feeble  or 
unfortunate  were  able  to  share  in  the  results  of  the 
fishing  or  snaring. 

Internal  government  and  the  regulation  of 
private  conduct  were  dependent  on  public  opinion 
as  expressed  in  the  assemblies,  on  certain  well  de- 
fined customs  of  old  standing,  and  upon  the  tapu 
which  constituted  a  civil  and  religious  code  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  ever  evolved  by  any  race.  As 
previously  mentioned  every  freeman  was  permitted 
to  express  his  opinion  on  matters  of  peace  or  war,  so 
that  the  policy  of  a  tribe  was  largely  at  the  mercy  of 
the  "  democratic  vote."  Certain  principles  of  con- 
duct and  justice  were  tacitly  accepted  by  all  the 
tribes.  If  an  injury  was  done  by  one  member  of  a 
tribe  to  another,  compensation  was  exacted  from  the 
offender;  if,  however,  the  injury  were  done  to  an 
individual  in  another  tribe,  it  was  resented  and 
punished  by  the  whole  tribe  to  which  the  victim 
belonged.  Offences  had  usually  a  corresponding 
compensation,  on  the  principle  of  an  eye  for  an  eye, 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth. 

In  large  matters  of  public  interest  the  Maori 
orator  was  a  great  power.  A  persuasive  tongue  and 
a  knowledge  of  the  rules  which  regulated  the  com- 
position of  the  "  classical "  Maori  oration,  were 
prized  exceedingly.  Harangues  were  made  up,  for 
the  most  part,  of  quotations  from  old  poetry  and  of 
elaborate  metaphors,  which  at  first  seemed  to  have 
little  connection  with  the  subject  in  hand.  The 
orator  delighted  in  mystery,  in  suspense,  in  surprise, 
and  developed  his  meaning  with  a  sedulous  slowness 


24  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

that  was  infinitely  tedious  to  white  listeners.  As  a 
general  rule,  indeed,  the  Maori  is  loquacious  and 
round-about.  He  dances  about  a  subject,  plays 
with  it  as  a  cat  plays  with  a  mouse,  retarding  as  long 
as  he  can  the  conclusion  of  the  matter.  As  he  spoke 
the  orator  of  olden  days  walked  to  and  fro  between 
fixed  points  gesticulating  and  brandishing  weapons. 

The  tapu  was  the  Maori  decalogue.  It  was  a 
strange  mixture  of  seemingly  useless  superstitions 
and  common-sense  maxims.  Its  authority  was 
based  on  a  combination  of  religion  and  custom,  and 
on  the  whole  it  was  an  institution  which  exercised  a 
salutary  influence  over  savage  minds.  The  word 
tapu  means  sacred  and  appears  to  be  the  same  as  the 
Hindoo  tdbout,  which  means  a  coffin,  or  the  ark  of 
the  covenant  of  God.  By  the  laws  of  tapu  certain 
things  were  always  sacred.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  the  bodies  of  chiefs  and  priests,  who  alone 
could  render  other  objects  tapu:  human  flesh,  dead 
bodies  and  all  that  touched  corpses ;  persons  planting 
the  kumera ;  the  first  kumeras  of  the  season  and  the 
first  fish.  Other  objects  might  be  temporarily  de- 
clared tapu.  For  example,  trees  suitable  for  canoes, 
rivers,  roads,  fishing  grounds,  anything,  in  fact, 
which  it  was  desirable  to  protect.  Such  objects  were 
marked  by  a  curious  wooden  image,  smeared  with 
red  earth,  by  a  tuft  of  human  hair,  or  by  a  piece  of 
an  old  mat. 

Some  of  the  results  of  this  institution  were  singu- 
lar and  amusing.  Because  priests  and  chiefs  pos- 
sessed the  magic  touch,  they  were  precluded  from 
work  in  the  fields,  and  had  to  be  fed  by  slaves,  since 
to  touch  food  with  their  fingers  would  render  it 
tapu.  Poor  persons,  who  had  been  tapued,  were 
under  the  necessity  of  eating  their  food  like  dogs. 


THE  MAORI.  25 

Violations  of  tapu  were  punished  both  by  gods  and 
men,  and  led  to  intertribal  wars  as  well  as  to  many 
of  the  early  conflicts  with  the  settlers. 

A  still  more  singular  set  of  customs  was  covered 
by  the  term  muru  (literally  plunder).  By  virtue 
of  this,  certain  offences  were  punished  by  raiding 
the  offender,  the  leader  of  the  raiding  party  usually 
compelling  him  to  fight  a  duel.  The  most  curious 
features  of  it  were,  first,  that  the  offender  regarded 
his  punishment  as  a  polite  attention  and,  secondly, 
that  accidents  were  treated  in  the  same  way  as  pre- 
meditated offences.  If  a  man's  child  fell  into  a  fire, 
if  his  canoo  was  upset,  if  the  wind  spread  his  fire  too 
far,  the  Jiapus  to  which  he  belonged  were  entitled  to 
demand  satisfaction  from  him.  Generally  he  was 
informed  beforehand,  and  prepared  a  feast  for  his 
tormentors,  who  might  spear  or  club  him,  in  addi- 
tion to  carrying  off  most  of  his  property.  Needless 
to  say,  white  men  were  sorely  puzzled  by  the  usages 
of  muru,  and  in  their  own  cases  regarded  its  inflic- 
tion as  flagrant  robbery. 

War  was  the  occupation  and  pastime  of  the 
Maoris.  They  loved  it  for  its  own  sake,  and  con- 
ducted it,  according  to  their  lights,  in  the  most 
chivalrous  manner.  As  instances  of  this  chivalry 
and  passion  for  fighting,  no  apology  need  be  made 
for  quoting  from  Old  New  Zealand  the  following 
stories:  A  Maori  chief  who  had  fought  against  us 
in  the  Waikato  war  on  being  asked  why,  when  he  had 
command  of  a  certain  road,  he  did  not  attack  the 
ammunition  and  provision  trains,  replied  in  aston- 
ishment, "  Why,  you  fool !  if  we  had  stolen  their 
powder  and  food,  how  could  they  have  fought  ? " 
So  fond  were  they  of  the  sport  that  "  sometimes  two 
villages  would  get  up  a  little  war,  and  the  in- 


26  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

habitants,  after  potting  at  each  other  all  day,  would 
come  out  of  their  '  pas  '  in  the  evening  and  talk  over 
their  day's  sport  in  the  most  friendly  manner.  '  I 
nearly  bagged  your  brother  to-day.'  '  Ah,  but  you 
should  have  seen  how  I  made  your  old  father-in-law 
skip ! '  and  so  on." 

Their  weapons,  until  muskets  became  the  fashion, 
were  chiefly  spears,  greenstone  meres,  and  clubs. 
For  attacks  by  sea,  they  constructed  canoes  of  kauri 
and  totara,  which  often  measured  eighty  feet  in 
length,  and  were  adorned  with  artistically  carved 
figure-heads  and  stern-posts,  the  latter  being  often 
fifteen  feet  high.  Some  of  these  canoes  carried  as 
many  as  a  hundred  warriors.  The  department  of 
war  in  which  they  were  most  skilled,  however,  was 
the  building  of  pas  or  entrenched  stockades,  some  of 
which  will  be  described  in  later  chapters.  Victories 
were  usually,  in  the  good  old  days,  celebrated  by  can- 
nibal orgies  such  as  shocked  and  terrified  Euro- 
peans. The  heads  of  the  victims  were  stuck  up  on 
the  fences  of  the  pa  as  butts  for  the  braves  to  jeer  at. 

In  times  of  peace  the  tribes  were  occupied  in 
various  industries;  in  fishing,  tilling,  making 
weapons  and  canoes,  in  mat  making,  which  latter 
was  strictly  woman's  work.  The  principal  articles 
of  food  were  fish,  fern-root,  taros,  kumeras,  dogs  and 
various  berries.  Potatoes  and  maize  were  eaten  in 
a  putrid  condition.  Fern-root  was  to  the  Maoris 
what  tea  is  to  the  Japanese:  they  chanted  songs  in 
its  praise  and  pined  for  it  in  exile. 

"  What  shall  be  our  food  ?  "  sang  the  maiden  who 
laid  a  basket  of  cooked  fern-root  before  the  visitor. 
"  Shell-fish  and  fern-root.  That  is  the  root  of  the 
earth ;  that  is  the  food  to  satisfy  a  man ;  the  tongue 
grows  rough  from  the  licking  of  it,  like  the  tongue 


THE  MAORI.  27 

of  a  dog."  Their  manner  of  cooking  was  interest- 
ing. After  scooping  out  a  hole  about  three  feet 
wide,  they  filled  it  with  faggots,  upon  which  they  laid 
a  number  of  round  stones,  which,  on  the  burning  of 
the  faggots,  sank  into  the  ashes.  Thereupon  the  cook, 
nearly  always  a  woman,  swept  the  charcoal  away, 
sprinkled  water  upon  the  stones  and  covered  them 
with  a  layer  of  leaves,  upon  which  she  placed  the 
articles  to  be  cooked,  covering  the  whole  with  mats 
so  as  to  prevent  the  escape  of  heat. 

The  huts  in  which  the  common  sort  lived,  were 
little  more  than  dog  kennels,  evil-smelling  and  in- 
describably dirty.  For  the  most  part  they  were 
made  of  grass  or  rushes  lashed  to  a  wooden  frame- 
work, portions  of  which  were  often  elaborately 
carved.  In  front  there  was  usually  a  small  veran- 
dah, made  of  reeds  and  slabs.  Each  hut  contained 
a  fireplace  excavated  in  the  floor,  and  during  winter 
when  the  doors  were  shut  and  all  the  occupants  smok- 
ing assiduously,  the  heat  was  stifling. 

Life  in  times  of  peace  was  not  severe.  In  the 
interval  of  tilling,  fishing,  snaring  birds,  or  grind- 
ing the  greenstone  into  meres — a  work  that  took 
years  and  years — there  was  ample  time  for  amuse- 
ments and  games,  of  which  the  Maoris  were,  and  are, 
passionately  fond.  Among  their  pastimes  were  sing- 
ing, dancing,  wrestling,  swimming,  racing  and 
throwing  the  spear.  Peace  and  war,  therefore,  com- 
bined to  make  the  Maori  an  athlete. 

The  mythology  of  the  Maoris  is  instinct  with 
poetry.  In  the  beginning,  so  ran  the  tale,  was  Te 
Kore  or  Nothingness,  and  after  the  lapse  of  ages 
came  light  and  life.  Eangi,  the  Heaven,  and  Papa, 
the  Earth,  the  fountain  and  source  of  all  things, 
were  in  ancient  days  locked  in  each  other's  embrace, 


28  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

and  their  children  dwelt  in  darkness.  At  length 
these  children  took  counsel  together,  and  determined 
to  rend  their  parents  asunder,  so  that  light  might 
come  to  them;  and  one  after  one  essayed  the  task 
in  vain,  until  Tane,  the  god  of  forests  and  birds, 
planting  his  head  on  Mother  Earth  and  raising  his 
feet  against  his  father  the  Heaven,  by  fierce  thrust- 
ing, rent  them  apart,  so  that  the  darkness  and  light 
were  made  manifest.  Tawhiri-ma-tea,  the  god  of 
wind  and  storms,  opposed  the  impiety  of  his  breth- 
ren, and  following  his  father  to  the  realms  above, 
sent  forth,  and  continues  to  send  forth,  cloud  and 
tempest,  snapping  the  trees  of  the  forest  and  lashing 
the  ocean  into  foam  in  his  wrath.  "  The  vast  Heaven 
has  still  ever  remained  separated  from  his  spouse 
the  Earth.  Yet  their  mutual  love  continues — the 
soft  warm  sighs  of  her  loving  bosom  still  ever  rise 
up  to  him,  ascending  from  the  woody  mountains  and 
valleys,  and  men  call  them  mists;  and  the  vast 
Heaven,  as  he  mourns  through  the  long  nights  his 
separation  from  his  beloved,  drops  frequent  tears 
upon  her  bosom,  and  men,  seeing  these,  term  them 
dew-drops."  * 

As  yet  man  had  not  appeared:  the  Earth  was 
tenanted  by  a  race  of  demi-gods  of  whom  Maui  was 
the  most  famous  in  song  and  legend.  In  the  stories 
which  relate  his  exploits  we  first  come  across  the 
Maori  theory  of  an  upper  and  lower  world.  In  the 
upper  world  dwelt  Rehua,  the  Aged  One,  the  Lord 
of  Kindness,  who  was  pictured  with  flowing  locks, 
and  who  darted  lightning  from  his  arm-pits.  One 
of  Maui's  exploits  was  a  descent  to  the  lower  world 
in  quest  of  his  father.  His  mother  used  to  visit  her 

*  Grey's  Polynesian  Mythology. 


THE  MAORI.  29 

children  on  earth  every  night,  but  always  departed  be- 
fore the  dawn,  no  one  knew  whither.  One  night  when 
she  slept,  Maui  closed  up  every  chink  in  the  dwelling 
so  that  no  light  could  enter,  and  his  mother  Taranga 
only  awoke  when  the  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens. 
With  a  shriek  she  fled  from  the  house,  and  Maui, 
following,  saw  her  raise  a  tuft  of  grass  and  descend 
through  an  opening  beneath  it.  Changing  himself 
by  magic  into  a  pigeon,  he  sped  through  long  caverns 
after  her,  until  he  came  to  an  open  space  where, 
under  a  grove  of  manapau  trees,  sat  his  mother  and 
father,  with  other  dwellers  of  the  under  world.  He 
perched  upon  one  of  the  trees  and  pecking  off  some 
berries,  cast  them  down  upon  his  parents;  whereat 
the  people  below,  discovering  the  pigeon,  began  to 
pelt  it  with  stones,  and  a  stone  aimed  by  his  father 
brought  Maui  wounded  and  fluttering  to  the  ground. 
When  they  ran  to  catch  him,  he  turned  into  a  man, 
with  fierce  glaring  eyes.  Explanations  followed, 
and  Maui  was  acknowledged  by  his  father,  who  took 
him  to  the  water  and  baptised  him,  and  said  prayers 
over  him  to  make  him  sacred ;  but  some  part  of  the 
ceremony  was  omitted,  and  the  gods  punished  this 
carelessness  by  rendering  Maui  subject  to  Death, 
the  Lady  of  Night. 

The  denizens  of  the  upper  world  sometimes  cast 
eyes  of  love  upon  the  children  of  men,  who  in  due 
course  appeared  on  the  earth;  and  some  of  these 
"  loves  of  the  angels  "  are  told  with  an  imaginative 
daring  hardly  surpassed  in  the  legends  of  the  East. 
Thus,  one  of  the  heavenly  maidens,  hearing  of  the 
fame  and  beauty  of  the  hero  Tawhaki,  came  night 
after  night  to  gaze  upon  him  whilst  he  slept,  and  at 
length  out  of  the  depth  of  her  love  for  him  forsook 
her  home  in  the  skies.  A  daughter  was  born  to  them. 


80  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Shortly  after  its  birth  Tawhaki,  under  some  evil 
inspiration,  spoke  slightingly  of  the  child,  and  the 
mother,  taking  it  in  her  arms,  fled  up  to  the  sky. 
Smitten  with  remorse,  the  hero  cried,  "  Mother  of 
my  child !  return  once  more  to  me." 

"  No,  no,"  came  the  reply,  "  I  shall  never  return 
to  you." 

"  At  least,  then,  leave  me  some  token  of  remem- 
brance." 

"  My  parting  words,"  she  answered,  "  are,  Lay 
fast  hold  on  that  creeper  which,  hanging  down  from 
on  high,  has  again  struck  its  fibres  into  the  earth." 

With  that  he  saw  her  no  more.  Torn  with 
anguish  for  the  loss  of  wife  and  child,  the  hero,  ac- 
companied by  his  brother,  roved  over  the  world, 
until  he  came  to  the  Face  of  Night,  an  ancient 
woman,  who  was  the  keeper  of  the  tendrils  that 
hung  down  from  the  sky.  And  when  they  had  got 
from  her  the  information  they  sought,  Tawhaki's 
brother  seized  a  tendril  and  would  have  climbed  to 
heaven,  but  unfortunately  the  tendril  had  not  taken 
root,  and  he  was  swung  by  a  blast  of  wind  from  hor- 
izon to  horizon  until  his  grasp  loosened  and  he  fell 
to  earth.  Tawhaki  was  more  successful,  and  by  aid 
of  incantations  taught  him  by  the  Face  of  Night, 
reached  the  Heaven  and  was  reconciled  to  his  ce- 
lestial wife. 

The  Maoris  believed  in  a  future  life,  but  they 
make  no  mention  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body. 
There  were  two  abodes  for  the  spirits  of  the  dead: 
Bangi,  in  the  sky,  and  Te  Reinga,  in  the  midst  of 
the  sea.  To  the  former  went  the  souls  of  chiefs  and 
priests,  those  who  traced  their  descent  from  heroes 
and  demigods.  The  souls  of  common  men  were 
doomed  to  an  eternity  of  darkness  in  Keinga,  the 


THE  MAORI.  31 

road  to  which  lay  by  way  of  Muri  Whenua,  the 
northern  Land's  End  of  ]STew  Zealand,  where  the 
shades  slid  down  the  roots  of  a  pohutu-kawa  tree  to 
caverns  that  led  to  the  underworld,  where  Ruhe,  a 
female  Charon,  ferried  them  across  the  Maori  Styx. 
There  were  no  punishments  in  these  other  worlds, 
and  the  shades  retained  the  same  rank  which  they 
had  held  on  earth.  The  evil  that  men  did  received 
punishment  during  life,  Wiro,  the  Maori  Lucifer, 
and  Taniwhi,  a  monstrous  lizard,  as  well  as  numer- 
ous sorcerers  being  the  chief  agents  of  retribution. 
The  gods  never  visited  the  earth,  but  the  spirits  of 
dead  ancestors  often  entered  into  the  bodies  of  men, 
lizards,  spiders,  birds,  or  flitted  about  as  invisible 
fairies. 

Without  a  written  language,  until  the  mission- 
aries came,  the  Maoris  could,  as  their  mythology 
would  be  sufficient  to  show,  boast  of  a  literature  and 
a  remarkable  accumulation  of  knowledge  on  a  variety 
of  subjects.  Legends  of  the  origin  of  things,  of  gods, 
and  heroes,  were  transmitted  with  the  utmost  care 
from  generation  to  generation,  the  tohungas  or  wise 
men  being  responsible  for  their  safe-keeping.  In 
every  tribe  classes  were  held  during  the  winter  in 
the  Whare-kura  or  Red  House.  Instruction  was 
given  in  the  ancient  legends  and  incantations  of  the 
race;  in  the  rules  of  tapu,  in  the  treatment  of  dis- 
eases; in  agriculture  and  in  all  useful  arts.  The 
most  promising  pupils  were  usually  drafted  into  the 
ranks  of  the  tohungas.  The  common  belief  that  a 
mistake  in  teaching  would  be  attended  by  evil  con- 
sequences made  these  Maori  professors  scrupulously 
careful  as  to  the  accuracy  of  their  instruction. 
Their  memories  were  trained  to  a  degree  unheard  of 
among  white  men.  A  missionary  mentions  the  case 


32  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

of  a  young  chief,  who,  after  once  hearing  a  poem 
of  about  fifty  lines,  was  able  to  repeat  it  without  a 
mistake,  and  similar  feats  of  memory  were  quite 
common.  "  You  white  men,"  said  another  chief, 
"  keep  your  knowledge  on  your  book  shelves ;  we 
keep  it  all  in  our  memories." 

Their  literature  consists  of  legends  of  gods  and 
demigods,  stories  of  ancestors,  and  poems.  Of  their 
legends  some  examples  have  been  given  already.  The 
well-known  story  of  Hinemoa  belongs  to  a  different 
class,  and  is  not  unworthy  to  be  compared  with  the 
classical  story  of  Hero  and  Leander.  Hinemoa,  a 
beautiful  maiden  of  high  rank,  who  dwelt  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Rotorua,  and  Tutanekai,  who  lived  on  the 
island  of  Mokoia,  had  fallen  in  love  with  each  other ; 
but  the  course  of  true  love  did  not  run  smooth,  for 
the  parents  and  friends  of  the  girl  prized  her  so  much 
that  they  would  not  betroth  her  to  any  chief.  Tuta- 
nekai built  a  balcony  on  his  island  and  every  night 
serenaded  his  lady-love  with  music  of  horn  and  pipe, 
and  the  sounds  of  the  music,  wafted  across  the  lake, 
so  touched  the  heart  of  the  maiden,  that  one  dark 
night  she  stole  from  her  home  to  the  water's  edge, 
and  there  throwing  off  her  clothes,  cast  herself  into 
the  water  and  swam  bravely  for  the  island.  Near 
the  spot  at  which  she  landed  was  a  hot  spring. 
"  Hinemoa  got  into  this  to  warm  herself,  for  she 
was  trembling  all  over,  partly  from  the  cold,  after 
swimming  across  the  wide  lake  of  Rotorua,  and 
partly  also,  perhaps  from  modesty,  at  the  thoughts 
of  meeting  Tutanekai."  Whilst  the  maiden  was  thus 
warming  herself,  a  slave  came  to  get  water  from  the 
spring  for  his  master.  She  was  frightened  and 
called  out  in  a  gruff  voice  like  that  of  a  man: 
"Whom  is  that  for?"  The  slave  replied:  "It's 


THE  MAORI.  33 

for  Tutanekai."  "  Give  it  here,  then,"  said  Hine- 
moa.  He  did  so,  and  when  she  had  finished  drink- 
ing, she  purposely  threw  down  the  calabash  and  broke 
it.  The  slave  returned  with  another  calabash,  and 
when  he  had  filled  it,  the  unseen  maiden  again  asked 
for  a  drink,  and  her  request  being  complied  with, 
she  broke  the  calabash  as  before.  This  took  place 
repeatedly,  until  at  last,  Tutanekai,  in  a  fit  of  rage, 
rushed  down  to  the  spring  and  shouted  "  Where  is 
that  fellow  who  broke  my  calabash  ?  "  And  Hinemoa 
knew  the  voice,  that  the  sound  of  it  was  that  of  the 
beloved  of  her  heart;  and  she  hid  herself  under  the 
overhanging  rocks  of  the  hot  spring;  but  her  hiding 
was  hardly  a  real  thing,  but  rather  a  bashful  con- 
cealing of  herself  from  Tutanekai,  that  he  might  not 
find  her  at  once,  but  only  after  trouble  and  careful 
searching  for  her.  So  he  went  feeling  about  along 
the  banks  of  the  hot  spring,  searching  everywhere, 
whilst  sho  lay  coyly  hid  under  the  ledges  of  the  rock, 
wondering  when  she  would  be  found.  At  last  he 
caught  hold  of  a  hand,  and  cried  out  "  Holloa,  who's 
this  ?  "  and  Hinemoa  answered, 

"  It's  I,  Tutanekai." 

"But  who  are  you?  who's  I?" 

Then  she  spoke  louder  and  said, 

"It's  I;  'tis  Hinemoa." 

And  he  said, 

"  Ho !  ho !  ho !  can  such  in  very  truth  be  the 
case  ?  Let  us  two  then  go  to  my  house." 

And  she  answered  "  Yes  " ;  and  she  rose  up  in 
the  water  as  beautiful  as  the  wild  white  hawk,  and 
stepped  upon  the  edge  of  the  bath  as  graceful  as 
the  shy  white  crane;  and  he  threw  garments  over 
her,  and  took  her,  and  they  proceeded  to  his  house, 
and  reposed  there;  and  thenceforth,  according  to 

P 


34  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  ancient  laws  of  the  Maori,  they  were  man  and 
wife.* 

For  delicacy  and  simple  grace  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult, outside  of  the  legends  of  Ancient  Greece,  to 
match  the  story  of  Hinemoa. 

In  addition  to  love  stories,  the  Maoris  had  many 
tales  of  fairies,  of  magic  and  sorcery,  of  the  mon- 
sters that  inhabited  seas  and  caves,  and  of  giants  who 
strode  from  mountain  to  mountain,  and  could  swal- 
low rivers,  and  turn  themselves  into  anything  they 
pleased.  Some  of  these  are  full  of  interest  and  show 
that  the  Maoris  possessed  more  imagination  and 
fancy  than  is  usually  credited  to  savage  races;  but 
some  are  tedious  and  overburdened  with  trivial  de- 
tails and  circumstances.  Maori  fables,  which  take 
the  form  of  conversations  between  animals,  are  com- 
paratively dull  and  pointless,  though  enthusiasts 
have  likened  them  to  JEsop. 

Of  their  poetry  Mr.  Colenso  writes  thus :  "  The 
people  frequently  beguiled  the  monotonous  drudgery 
of  some  of  their  heavier  work,  performed  together 
in  company,  by  songs  with  suitable  choruses.  Such 
songs  were  sung  when  dragging  or  paddling  their 
canoes,  or  digging  in  their  cultivations.  Their  war 
songs  and  defiances  contain  horrible  curses,  and 
breathe  a  spirit  of  ferocity,  while  their  love  songs 
are  full  of  the  tenderest  feeling,  expressed  some- 
times in  the  most  touching  and  beautiful  language. 
Their  sentimental  songs,  expressive  of  abandonment, 
loneliness,  and  despair,  contain  much  pathos,  and, 
sung  as  they  always  were,  in  a  minor  key,  were  often 
very  affecting."  The  language  is  full  of  imagery, 
often  appropriate  and  striking,  suggested  by  natural 

*  Grey's  Polynesian  Mythology.  , 


THE  MAORI.  35 

forces  and  scenes.  The  Maori,  like  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indian,  had  keen  eyes,  and  his  poetic  instinct 
enabled  him  to  find  symbols  for  his  thought  and  feel- 
ing in  the  passing  cloud  and  the  gushing  stream 
spring,  in  the  life  of  the  forest,  and  the  wide  sweep 
of  the  seas.  Nor  were  his  metaphors  always  obvious ; 
on  the  contrary,  many  of  them  betokened  close  ob- 
servation as  well  as  a  true  perception  of  beauty. 
The  worst  features  of  Maori  poetry  are  the  savage 
cruelty  reflected  in  the  war  songs,  and  the  lascivious- 
ness  that  is  paraded  unblushingly  in  many  of  their 
love  songs. 

No  feature  of  Maori  civilisation  has  attracted 
more  attention  of  late  than  their  art,  as  shown  in 
elaborate  wood-carvings  on  canoe  prows  and  stern- 
posts,  on  weapons,  lintels  of  doors,  and  in  the  gro- 
tesquely beautiful  curves  and  spirals  tattooed  on  their 
faces  and  bodies.  There  were  among  them  great 
masters,  decorators  and  carvers,  specimens  of  whose 
work  excite  the  admiration  of  connoisseurs.  To 
achieve  these  results  they  had  only  the  simplest  tools, 
an  immense  stock  of  patience,  and  a  genuine  feeling 
for  beauty  of  line.  For  tattooing  they  had  a  stick 
(about  eighteen  inches  long)  used  as  a  mallet,  and 
a  lance-shaped  instrument  made  of  hard  wood,  of 
bone,  or  shell.  The  process  was  so  painful  that  only 
small  portions  could  be  done  at  a  time,  the  patient 
being  diverted  by  the  singing  of  songs : 

Be  not  impatient  to  go  to  the  girl 
That  gathers  you  sweet  greens 
In  baskets  of  kowhara. 


Let  our  songs  kill  the  pain. 

And  inspire  thee  with  fortitude, 

O  Hiki  Hangaroa  !    O  Hiki  Hangaroa  I 


PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    COMINQ   OF    THE   WHITE    MATT. 

SEVERAL  European  countries  contend  for  the 
honour  of  having  discovered  New  Zealand.  French 
writers  claim  that  De  Gonneville  visited  the  islands 
in  1504,  and  that  he  brought  back  with  him  a  native 
who  afterwards  married  into  the  family  of  the  voya- 
geur.  A  similar  claim  is  made  on  behalf  of  Juan 
Fernandez,  a  Spanish  sailor  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Starting  in  1576  from  South  America,  he  lighted  a 
month's  sail  from  America  upon  a  pleasant  land  in- 
habited by  brown  men,  who  clothed  themselves  in 
garments  of  woven  cloth.  There  are  also  traditions 
that  Spanish  ships  visited  New  Zealand  and  that  they 
left  pigs  and  dogs.  Enthusiasts,  moreover,  trace  cer- 
tain Maori  words  to  Spanish  sources. 

These  surmises  may  be  entertaining,  but  they  still 
remain  surmises.  New  Zealand  did  not  exist  for 
Europe  until  Tasman's  famous  voyage  in  1642,  and 
for  many  a  year  afterwards  few  were  aware  of  the 
results  of  his  voyage.  Leaving  Batavia  in  Septem- 
ber of  the  year  1642,  Tasman  discovered  Tasmania, 
called  by  him  Van  Diemen's  Land,  and  then  directed 
his  course  to  the  east  until  his  progress  was  barred 
by  a  long  line  of  coast,  with  snow-capped  mountains 
in  the  background.  Sailing  north,  he  rounded  Cape 
Farewell  and  brought  his  two  ships  to  anchor  in  a 
bay  adjoining  that  on  which  now  stands  the  beauti- 
ful town  of  Nelson.  Two  double  war-canoes  filled 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN.  37 

with  dusky  warriors  came  out  to  inspect  these  white- 
winged  apparitions  of  the  sea.  They  kept  at  a  dis- 
tance, however,  their  crews  making  at  intervals  a 
noise  like  the  blowing  of  trumpets.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  a  canoe  manned  by  thirteen  natives  came 
within  hail,  but  no  inducements  could  allure  its  occu- 
pants on  board;  it  was  only  when  other  canoes  ar- 
rived that  some  of  the  natives  mustered  up  courage 
to  scramble  on  board  the  Heemskirk.  Tasman,  fear- 
ing treachery,  despatched  a  boat  to  tell  the  captain 
of  the  Heemskirk  to  bo  on  his  guard,  a  move  evi- 
dently regarded  by  the  Maoris  with  suspicion.  They 
were  observed  to  signal  to  each  other  and  immediately 
afterwards  several  of  the  canoes  made  a  dash  at  the 
boat,  and,  in  the  melee  which  followed,  three  sailors 
were  killed  and  a  fourth  wounded.  Tasman  lost  no 
time  in  weighing  anchor,  but  he  was  scarcely  under 
sail  when  a  flotilla  of  twenty-two  war  canoes  put 
out  and  compelled  him  to  fire  a  broadside,  which 
killed  one  native  and  terrified  the  remainder.  What- 
ever desire  he  may  have  had  to  explore  the  country 
was  abandoned  and,  crowding  canvas,  the  Dutch 
navigator  left  Massacre  Bay  behind  him.  Unaware 
of  the  presence  of  a  strait,  he  coasted  along  the  north 
island,  his  sole  desire  apparently  being  to  find  a  pas- 
sage by  which  he  might  escape  to  the  east.  On 
rounding  North  Cape  he  thought  of  landing  at  Three 
Kings  to  procure  a  supply  of  fresh  water,  but  the 
sight  of  "  thirty-five  large  natives,  taking  prodigious 
strides,  with  clubs  in  their  hands  "  so  terrified  him 
that  he  sheered  off  and  showed  a  clean  pjair  of  heels. 
Nothing  came  of  Tasman's  voyage.  Maori  legends 
relate  that  a  European  ship  visited  the  North  Island 
about  1740  and  that  she  was  plundered  and  her  crew 
killed  and  eaten.  New  Zealand,  however,  ceased  to 


38  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

be  a  Terra  Incognita  only  with  the  arrival  of  Cook, 
who  landed  at  Tauranga  in  October  1769.  Thence 
he  sailed  northwards  following  the  coast  to  Taranaki, 
after  which  he  crossed  the  strait,  now  named  Cook's 
Strait,  or  more  picturesquely  the  "  windpipe  of  the 
Pacific,"  and  entered  Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  after- 
wards completing  the  circumnavigation  of  the  North 
Island  and  finally  of  the  South  Island. 

Cook  endeavoured  during  this  visit,  in  a  somewhat 
blundering  way,  it  must  be  confessed,  to  establish 
friendly  relations  with  the  natives.  He  was  entirely 
ignorant  of  their  customs,  and  though  himself  a 
humane  man.  he  fell  too  readily  into  the  "  blood  and 
iron "  way  of  dealing  with  savages.  On  nearly 
every  occasion  of  his  landing  mutual  suspicion  and 
misunderstanding  led  to  brawls  and  the  spilling  of 
Maori  blood.  To  the  natives  the  Endeavour 
seemed  a  mighty  bird;  Cook  and  his  men  they  re- 
garded as  gods  armed  with  thunder  and  lightning; 
but  for  all  that  they  had  no  mind  to  cringe;  on  the 
contrary,  they  faced  the  strangers  and  their  thunder 
with  singular  courage  and  boldness. 

It  would  take  up  too  much  space  to  describe  at 
length  Cook's  four  visits  to  New  Zealand,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  surveyed  the  coasts  of  both 
islands ;  it  will  be  sufficient  to  give  a  few  of  the  more 
characteristic  incidents. 

At  Tauranga  he  saw  for  the  first  time  a  palisaded 
pa.  Later  on,  at  Mercury  Bay,  he  visited  one  of 
these  strongholds,  of  which  he  says  that  the  "best 
engineer  in  Europe  could  not  have  chosen  a  better 
site,"  and  that  its  construction  showed  much  in- 
genuity and  must  have  involved  immense  labour. 
Wishing  to  speak  to  the  natives  assembled  on  the 
beach  and  the  banks  of  the  river  at  Tauranga,  he 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN.  39 

landed  from  the  yawl,  but  they  ran  into  the  bush 
at  his  approach.  Shortly  afterwards,  however,  a 
party  of  them  rushed  out  and  attacked  the  boys  who 
had  been  left  in  charge  of  the  boat.  The  boys 
dropped  down  the  stream,  and  as  the  natives  still 
pursued,  the  coxswain  fired  some  shots  over  their 
heads,  but  this  having  only  stopped  their  progress 
for  a  moment,  he  fired  again  and  killed  one  of  them, 
whereupon  the  rest  fled.  Next  day  another  attempt 
was  made  to  establish  friendly  intercourse.  With 
the  assistance  of  a  native  of  Tahiti,  Cook  was  able 
to  hold  some  talk  with  them,  and  after  a  time  they 
approached  the  group  of  white  men.  Presents  were 
given  them,  but  they  seemed  most  of  all  to  covet  the 
weapons  of  the  visitors,  and  one  of  them  having 
snatched  an  officer's  hanger,  was  fired  at  and  wounded 
so  that  he  died  shortly  afterward.  On  the  third  day 
the  ship's  people  waylaid  some  Maoris  in  a  canoe, 
and  when  these  would  have  escaped,  fired  over  their 
heads  to  bring  them  to.  In  desperation,  however, 
they  showed  fight,  and  then  Cook  deemed  it  neces- 
sary to  kill  two  or  three  of  them.  Three  Maori  boys 
who  took  the  water  were  captured  and  carried  to  the 
ship,  where  being  well  fed  and  otherwise  well 
treated,  they  became  as  "  cheerful  and  merry  as  if 
they  had  been  with  their  own  friends."  These  were 
strange  ways  of  making  friends,  and  the  great  navi- 
gator makes  some  apology  for  what  he  fears  may  be 
regarded  as  inhumanity. 

Among  the  Maoris  who  were  present  when  Cook 
arrived  at  Mercury  Bay  was  a  boy  eight  years  old, 
by  name  Hore-ta-te-Taniwha,  who  in  1853  gave  to 
Colonel  Wynyard  an  account,  from  the  Maori  point 
of  view,  of  the  visit  of  the  white  men.  When  they 
first  beheld  the  vessel,  the  old  men  of  the  tribe  said 


40  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

it  was  a  iupua  or  god ;  and  when  they  saw  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  sailors  came  ashore,  rowing  with 
their  hacks  to  the  bows  of  the  boat,  they  said,  "  Yes, 
it  is  so;  these  people  are  goblins:  their  eyes  are  at 
the  back  of  their  head."  When  the  goblins  landed, 
Taniwha  and  other  children  ran  into  the  bush,  only 
the  warriors,  as  became  their  bravery,  holding  their 
ground ;  but  as  no  evil  befell  them,  the  children  came 
back  and  even  ventured  to  touch  the  garments  of  the 
strange  beings.  Then  the  goblins,  after  gathering 
oysters,  went  into  the  forest  and  climbed  the  hill  to 
the  pa.  Some  of  them  carried  walking-sticks,  and 
when  they  arrived  at  the  dead  tree  on  which  shags 
roost  at  night,  they  lifted  the  walking-sticks,  and 
pointed  them  at  the  birds,  and  in  a  short  time  thun- 
der was  heard  to  crash  and  a  flash  of  lightning  was 
seen,  and  a  shag  fell.  In  terror  the  children  ran 
away,  but  the  goblins  laughed  and  waved  their  hands, 
and  the  children  plucked  up  courage  again.  Tani- 
wha and  some  of  the  bravest  of  them  went  on  board 
the  ship.  There  was  a  supreme  man  there.  They 
knew  that  he  was  lord  by  his  perfectly  gentlemanly 
and  noble  demeanour,  and  by  his  kindness  to  the  chil- 
dren, for  he  patted  their  cheeks  and  gently  touched 
their  hands,  and  gave  Taniwha  a  nail.  He  also 
made  a  speech,  which  the  Maoris,  of  course,  did  not 
understand,  and  made  marks  on  the  deck  with  a 
piece  of  charcoal ;  whereat  an  aged  Maori  said,  "  He 
is  asking  for  an  outline  of  this  land,"  and  taking  the 
charcoal,  drew  on  the  deck  an  outline  of  Te  Ika  a 
Maui. 

During  the  visit  a  Maori  was  killed  by  the  gob- 
lins. His  death  happened  on  this  wise.  Nine  per- 
sons had  gone  to  the  ship  to  barter  mats  and  fish, 
and  one  of  them  was  a  noted  thief.  Whilst  they  lay 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN.  41 

alongside  the  vessel  the  goblin  who  collected  shells, 
flowers  and  stones,  held  up  the  end  of  a  garment 
which  he  would  give  in  exchange  for  the  dogskin 
mat  belonging  to  the  thief.  A  great  length  having 
been  unwound,  the  goblin  cut  it  off,  but  the  thief 
rolled  it  up  and  still  keeping  the  dogskin  mat,  bade 
his  comrades  paddle  to  the  shore.  They  did  as  he 
told  them,  and  thereupon  the  goblin  went  below  and 
returned  with  a  walking-stick,  which  he  pointed  at 
the  canoe.  Thunder  pealed  and  lightning  flashed, 
but  those  in  the  canoe  paddled  on.  When  they 
reached  land,  eight  men  rose,  but  the  thief  sat  with 
the  dogskin  mat  and  the  garment  of  the  goblin  under 
his  feet.  His  companions  called  to  him,  but  he  gave 
no  answer ;  and  when  one  of  them  shook  him,  he  fell 
back  into  the  hold  of  the  canoe,  and  blood  was  seen 
on  his  clothing  and  a  hole  in  his  back.  They  bore 
the  body  to  the  settlement,  where  a  meeting  was 
called  to  consult  on  the  matter,  at  which  his  com- 
panions told  the  tale  of  the  theft  of  the  goblin's  gar- 
ment ;  and  the  people  said,  "  He  was  the  cause  of 
his  own  death,  and  it  will  not  be  right  to  avenge 
him."  So  they  buried  the  thief  and  with  him  the 
stolen  garment,  and  after  that  they  traded  as  before 
with  the  goblin's  ship. 

This  story  is  remarkable  not  only  for  its  quaint 
fancy,  but  also  for  its  fidelity  to  facts.  It  is  another 
proof  of  the  singular  power  of  memory  possessed  by 
the  Maoris. 

At  the  very  time  when  Cook,  at  the  close  of  his 
first  visit  to  New  Zealand,  was  sailing  out  of  Doubt- 
less Bay,  De  Surville,  in  the  St.  Jean  Baptiste,  was 
working  into  it.  Then  and  for  many  years  to  come 
French  navigators  were  active  in  the  South  Seas. 
Deprived  of  Canada  and  most  of  her  possessions  in 


42  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

India,  France  was  not  unnaturally  eager  to  discover 
fresh  territory  for  colonial  expansion,  and  the  rivalry 
between  her  and  England  in  the  Pacific  forms  a  very 
interesting  chapter  in  Australasian  history.  De 
Surville,  it  is  said,  had  been  attracted  to  New  Zea- 
land by  the  singular  report  that  England  had  dis- 
covered there  an  island  of  gold.  He  was  received  by 
the  natives  at  Mongonui  with  the  utmost  friendship, 
but  an  unfortunate  incident,  in  which  the  French 
were  to  blame,  occurred  to  disturb  the  harmony 
which  prevailed.  Some  invalids  who  had  been  well 
treated  on  shore  by  the  natives,  were  returning  to 
the  ship,  when  a  storm  arose  and  compelled  them  to 
put  back.  A  native  chief  furnished  them  with  shel- 
ter and  food,  and  in  every  way  played  the  good 
Samaritan  to  them.  Unhappily,  during  the  storm, 
De  Surville  had  lost  a  boat,  and  concluding,  on  very 
slender  evidence,  that  the  natives  had  stolen  it,  he 
allured  the  hospitable  chief  on  board  and  there  put 
him  in  irons;  after  which  he  burned  the  native  vil- 
lage and  sailed  away  with  his  prisoner,  who  soon 
died  of  home-sickness.  De  Surville  himself,  the  in- 
dignant moralist  will  be  glad  to  learn,  survived  the 
death  of  his  victim  but  eleven  days,  being  drowned 
in  the  surf  at  Callao. 

For  this  treachery  the  Maoris  in  1772  took  an 
ample  revenge.  In  that  year  Marion  du  Fresne 
anchored  with  two  ships  in  the  Bay  of  Islands,  which 
is  within  easy  distance  of  Mongonui.  A  number  of 
the  crew  who  were  suffering  from  scurvy  and  other 
diseases  which  attacked  sailors  on  the  long  voyages 
of  the  last  century,  were  landed  and  treated  by  the 
natives  with  marked,  almost  suspiciously  marked, 
kindness.  The  Maoris  brought  them  fish  and  ku- 
meras,  and  in  return  were  given  many  presents  by 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN.  43 

the  Frenchmen.  The  utmost  good  fellowship  pre- 
vailed and  Marion,  apparently  dazzled  by  Maori 
hospitality,  relaxed  the  discipline  of  the  crews  so 
much  that  Crozet,  his  second  in  command,  took  oc- 
casion to  remonstrate.  His  warning  fell  on  deaf 
ears.  The  captain  was  intoxicated  by  the  honours 
paid  to  him  by  the  natives,  who  decorated  his  head 
with  feathers  and  otherwise  played  upon  his  vanity. 
There  came  a  day,  however,  when  this  happy  idyll 
was  shivered  like  a  piece  of  glass.  Marion,  accom- 
panied by  sixteen  officers  and  several  of  his  crew, 
went  ashore,  at  the  invitation  of  a  hospitable  chief, 
for  a  day's  fishing  at  Manawaroa  Bay.  They  did 
not  return  that  evening,  but  no  alarm  seems  to  have 
been  felt.  On  the  following  day  a  boat  containing 
twelve  men  was  sent  ashore  to  procure  fresh  water 
and  food;  and  a  few  hours  later  one  of  these  men 
swam  off  to  the  vessel  and  related  how  his  comrades 
had  been  fallen  upon  by  the  natives  and  literally 
made  meat  of.  A  message  was  immediately  sent  to 
Crozet,  who,  with  sixty  men,  was  felling  a  kauri 
pine  some  distance  inland.  Keeping  his  own  coun- 
sel, Crozet  quietly  withdrew  his  men  to  the  shore 
where  crowds  of  natives  assembled,  shouting  that 
Marion  had  been  killed  and  eaten.  !N"o  attack  was 
mada,  for  Crozet  drawing  a  line  on  the  sand  with 
his  musket,  threatened  to  shoot  the  first  native  who 
crossed.  Once  safely  on  board,  he  prepared  to 
avenge  the  massacre.  Volley  after  volley  was  poured 
with  deadly  effect  into  a  dense  body  of  natives  gath- 
ered on  the  beach;  and  next  day  a  landing  party 
destroyed  a  native  village  with  many  of  its  inhab- 
itants. Marion's  fate  was  soon  learned.  The 
"  friendly  "  chief  was  found  wearing  the  captain's 
mantle,  and  baskets  of  human  flesh  were  discovered 


44  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

in  the  village.  Crozet  exacted  a  bloody  revenge  and 
departed  with  bitter  memories  of  Maori  treachery. 
"  They  treated  us,"  he  says,  "  with  every  show  of 
friendship  for  thirty-three  days,  with  the  intention 
of  eating  us  on  the  thirty-fourth."  He  asserts  that 
his  countrymen  gave  no  cause  of  offence ;  but  Maori 
accounts  give  a  different  complexion  to  the  matter. 
The  natives  accused  their  visitors  of  outraging  their 
sacred  places,  making  fire  with  tapued  wood,  and 
maltreating  their  chiefs — unpardonable  crimes  to 
the  Maori  way  of  thinking.  The  mysterious  laws  of 
iapu,  at  first  incomprehensible  to  Europeans,  were 
to  prove  a  frequent  cause  of  blood-letting  in  the  after 
history  of  New  Zealand. 

During  Cook's  second  visit  a  somewhat  similar 
incident  occurred  when  he  was  anchored  in  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound.  A  native  offered  to  sell  a  hatchet 
to  a  sailor,  and  the  sailor  after  getting  possession  of 
it  refused  to  pay  for  it  or  give  it  back.  The  native, 
in  accordance  with  Maori  law  and  custom  and  in 
order  to  make  things  equal,  seized  some  bread  and 
fish  belonging  to  the  sailors,  whereupon  a  fracas 
arose,  in  which  two  natives  were  shot  and  the  boat's 
crew  murdered. 

Cook  during  his  four  visits  made  remarkably  ac- 
curate surveys  of  the  coast.  In  spite  of  the  readi- 
ness with  which  he  shot  offenders,  he  is  still  remem- 
bered by  the  Maoris  as  a  benefactor,  for  it  was  from 
him  they  derived  their  pigs  and  potatoes,  which  soon 
became  the  chief  articles  of  food  among  them,  and 
at  the  beginning  of  the  century  enabled  them  to 
carry  on  a  considerable  trade  with  whalers,  sealers, 
and  other  European  visitors. 

The  voyages  of  Cook,  De  Surville  and  others  cre- 
ated great  interest  in  Europe.  Their  narratives  were 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN.  45 

read  with  avidity  by  a  generation  that  had  learned 
from  Rousseau  to  pay  a  sentimental  homage  to  the 
noble  savage,  who  was  alleged  to  possess  all  the  vir- 
tues and  few  of  the  vices  of  civilisation.  The  canni- 
balism of  the  Maori  added  but  relish  to  the  interest. 
His  superior  intellectual  qualities,  his  contempt  for 
the  baubles  usually  given  to  savages,  his  hankering 
after  nails,  iron  fish-hooks  and  other  useful  tools, 
placed  him  on  a  pedestal  far  above  other  savage 
races  with  which  Europe  was  acquainted. 


46  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTEE  V. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN  1800  AND  1840. 
PIONEEES. 

FOR  some  years  after  Cook's  visits  New  Zealand 
was  left  severely  alone.  The  Maori  reputation  for 
cannibalism  and  general  ferocity  acted  as  a  powerful 
deterrent.  Ships  on  distant  voyages  came  and  went, 
but  most  of  them  gave  the  islands  a  wide  berth:  if 
they  landed,  it  was  with  fear  and  trembling.  Even 
the  horrors  of  scurvy  were  scarcely  sufficient  to  per- 
suade a  ship's  crew  to  land  for  a  much  needed  sup- 
ply of  fresh  water  and  vegetables.  D'Entrecasteaux, 
it  is  said,  arriving  in  New  Zealand  waters  in  1793, 
was  afraid  to  go  close  to  the  shorei,  although  the 
natives  were  friendly  and  anxious  to  trade,  following 
his  ship  with  mats  for  barter. 

After  the  founding  of  New  South  Wales,  how- 
ever, visitors  to  New  Zealand  became  more  numer- 
ous. In  the  year  1793  an  event  happened  which 
drew  the  attention  of  people  in  Sydney  to  the  pos- 
sibilities of  trade  with  the  Maoris.  The  Norfolk 
Islanders  attempted  to  utilise  the  flax  which  grew  in 
the  island  for  the  manufacture  of  mats,  bags,  and 
other  articles;  but  their  workmanship  was  so  in- 
ferior to  that  of  the  Maori  that  it  was  determined 
to  secure  a  Maori  instructor.  For  this  purpose  a 
vessel  was  despatched  to  the  Bay  of  Islands  on  what 
was  practically  a  "  black-birding "  cruise*  Two 


PIONEERS.  47 

natives  of  rank  were  kidnapped  in  a  discreditable 
manner,  and  carried  off  to  Norfolk  Island,  where, 
however,  they  refused  to  give  any  instruction  in  an 
industry  which,  they  truthfully  said,  was  woman's 
work,  and  therefore  beneath  their  dignity.  After 
pining  for  six  months  in  useless  exile,  they  found  a 
friend  in  Lieutenant-Governor  King,  who  ordered 
them  to  be  taken  back  to  New  Zealand  and  presented 
them  with  a  dozen  pigs,  some  maize,  and  other  seeds. 
King  visited  the  Bay  of  Islands  in  1793,  and  recom- 
mended New  Zealand  as  a  good  field  for  the  enter- 
prise of  Sydney  merchants ;  and  there  were  in  Syd- 
ney at  that  time  plenty  of  adventurous  spirits  ready 
to  engage  in  traffic  with  a  country  which  had  all  the 
allurements  of  a  No  Man's  Land. 

The  pioneers  were  chiefly  whalers  who  lauded  to 
procure  spars  and  masts  for  their  ships  or  took 
refuge  from  storms  in  various  inlets,  where  their 
presence  encouraged  a  sort  of  trade  with  the  Maoris. 
The  coasts  abounded  in  seals  and  it  was  soon  found 
that  many  of  the  inlets  were  breeding-grounds  of 
whales.  The  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century 
saw  a  great  expansion  in  whaling,  sealing,  and 
general  traffic  with  the  Maoris.  The  principal  re- 
sorts were  Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  Dusky  Bay, 
Banks'  Peninsula,  Poverty  Bay,  Hawkes  Bay,  Bay 
of  Plenty,  and  the  Bay  of  Islands.  At  a  later  date 
various  stations  were  formed  on  the  coast  of  what  is 
now  known  as  Otago.  The  Maoris  of  the  South 
Island  received  the  new-comers  with  open  arms,  and 
many  of  them  became  expert  whalers  and  sailors; 
but  for  some  years  the  natives  of  the  North  Island 
were  distrustful  of  white  traders.  It  was  not  till 
they  conceived  a  burning  desire  to  possess  the  white 
man's  weapons  that  their  distrust  gave  place  to  an 


48  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

equally  strong  desire  to  cultivate  friendly  trading 
relations. 

During  this  period  (1800  to  1840)  there  were 
three  classes  of  more  or  less  permanent  settlers:  (1) 
the  sealers  and  the  "  hands  "  employed  at  the  various 
whaling  stations,  (2)  the  missionaries  who  confined 
their  labours  chiefly  to  the  northern  portion  of  the 
North  Island,  and  (3)  a  vagabond  class,  consisting 
of  runaway  sailors,  escaped  convicts  from  New 
South  Wales,  and  here  and  there  a  "  gentleman 
ranker  "  who  had  flung  off  the  restraints  of  civilisa- 
tion for  a  freer  life  under  the  greenwood  tree. 

The  occupants  of  the  whaling  and  sealing  stations 
lived  a  monotonous  existence,  exiles  from  more  civi- 
lised resorts,  and  bond-slaves  to  the  merchants,  who 
employed  them  and  paid  for  their  labours  in  rum, 
slops,  and  tobacco.  These  merchants,  hailing  mostly 
from  Sydney,  made  for  years  great  profits  out  of  the 
whaling  industry.  The  wages  of  the  station  hands 
cost  them  very  little,  the  rum  and  tobacco  being  of 
the  vilest  and  cheapest,  although  their  nominal  price 
to  the  whalers  was  high;  and  once  the  men  were 
landed  at  the  settlement  there  was  little  chance  of 
their  being  able  to  escape.  Being  paid  in  kind, 
they  were  always  penniless,  most  of  them,  indeed, 
were  in  a  chronic  state  of  indebtedness  to  their  em- 
ployers. During  the  season,  May  until  October, 
life  on  the  station  was  full  of  bustle.  Some  were 
engaged  in  killing  the  whales  and  others  occupied  in 
preserving  the  oil — no  dainty  business.  The  try- 
works  consisted  of  large  iron  boilers  in  which  the 
blubber,  cut  into  manageable  lumps,  was  boiled. 
It  was  a  curious  scene — a  whaling  settlement  in  the 
busy  time,  when  "  Sunday  never  came  out  into  the 
bay."  Muscular,  unshaven  white  men,  reeking  of 


PIONEERS.  49 

oil,  aided  by  brown  men,  in  every  conceivable  type 
of  dress,  kept  the  furnaces  going  with  wood  and 
scrag,  or  cut  slabs  of  blubber  from  carcasses  of 
whales  raised  out  of  the  water  by  means  of  sheers,  or 
headed  casks  of  oil  and  rolled  them  to  the  storehouse 
to  await  the  arrival  of  vessels  from  Sydney.  The 
ground  was  saturated  with  oil  and  the  stench  was 
indescribable;  but  these  burly,  half-savage  whalers 
were  to  the  manner  born,  and  throve,  in  spite  of 
stench  and  oil  and  a  species  of  rum  that  was  death 
to  the  unseasoned. 

At  the  end  of  the  season  vessels  arrived  with 
stores,  and  loaded  up  for  the-  return  journey  with 
whale  oil  and  bone.  The  arrival  of  the  vessels 
marked  pay-day  for  the  "  hands,"  the  wages  being 
credited  to  them  in  grog,  tobacco,  and  clothes.  Then 
followed  a  Saturnalia  such  as  made  the  hearts  of 
good  missionaries  shudder  with  horror.  For  weeks 
the  settlement  gave  itself  up  to  steady  drinking  and 
many  an  inmate  of  a  solitary  hut  ended  up  with 
what  he  quaintly  called  a  fit  of  the  "  horrors." 
These  delights  ended  only  with  their  credit,  and  then 
the  topers  awoke  from  their  drunken  sleep  to  find 
that  the  summer  was  yet  before  them.  Some  simply 
loafed,  clay  pipe  always  in  mouth;  some  cultivated 
a  patch  of  ground  in  which  they  grew  vegetables  for 
the  use  of  their  "  dusky  brood,"  for  the  great  ma- 
jority had  Maori  women  for  their  helpmeets ;  whilst 
others,  more  impatient  of  the  dreary  hours,  marched 
across  country  to  the  next  station,  where,  if  they 
were  lucky,  they  might  renew  their  potations  at  the 
expense  of  their  hosts.  There  were,  of  course,  ex- 
ceptions, but  their  number  was  too  small  to  impress 
missionary  observers,  who  regarded  all  whalers  and 
sealers  as  "  agents  of  the  devil."  Happily  there  has 

E 


50  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

arisen  a  kindlier  way  of  looking  at  these  skirmishers 
of  civilisation  and  ample  justice  has  since  been  done 
them. 

As  the  whalers  were  counted  superior  persons  by 
the  natives  they  had  no  difficulty  in  marrying  into 
the  "  best  families."  Their  wives  were  often  the 
daughters  of  chiefs.  They  were  proud  of  their 
white  husbands,  over  whom  they  had  much  in- 
fluence; and  the  manner  in  which  they  performed 
their  wifely  duties  won  the  admiration  of  unpreju- 
diced travellers.  They  dressed  neatly  in  printed 
calico  gowns  and  had  learned,  perhaps  from  their 
sailor  husbands,  to  keep  their  homes  clean  and  tidy. 
On  the  whole  their  influence  was  on  the  side  of  peace, 
many  a  drunken  brawl,  and  many  a  squabble  with 
the  tribes  being  ended  amicably  through  the  good 
offices  of  the  whalers'  wives.  Their  half-caste 
children  were  noticeably  healthy  and  good-looking. 

Whatever  were  their  shortcomings,  the  whalers 
were  at  least  a  manly  and  hospitable  race.  They 
familiarised  the  Maoris  with  European  customs, 
taught  them  many  useful  arts,  and  established  with 
them  a  camaraderie  which  resulted  in  mutual  re- 
spect and  did  a  great  deal  to  "make  straight  the 
paths  "  of  the  future  colonists.  As  was  previously 
mentioned,  the  men  of  the  tribes  took  with  eagerness 
to  the  exciting  occupation  of  whale  catching,  and 
many  of  them  became  bold  and  skilful  seamen. 
Tuwhaiki,  jestingly  named  Bloody  Jack  by  his  white 
friends,  was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Maori  sailor. 
Dr.  Shortland  who  met  him  in  1843  describes  him 
as  "  a  chief  of  a  very  intelligent  and  pleasing 
address,"  and  then  goes  on  to  remark :  "  He  spoke 
a  little  English,  of  which,  and  of  his  English  dress, 
he  was  evidently  proud.  His  influence  over  all  the 


PIONEERS.  51 

natives  present  was  decided,  and  appeared  to  be 
beneficially  exerted  for  all  parties.  He  displayed 
that  remarkable  power  of  memory  at  which  I  have 
often  wondered  in  the  New  Zealander,  repeating  a 
long  list  of  miscellaneous  property,  which  he, 
Pokeni,  and  others,  had  received  at  different  times, 
specifying  what  share  each  had  obtained  on  division. 
Sometimes  Tuwhaiki's  account  of  goods  received 

did  not  correspond  with  Mr.  J 's  written  lists  of 

property  paid :  the  latter,  however,  was  always  ready 
to  admit  the  error  to  be  most  probably  his  own.  In- 
deed, this  native  had  so  good  a  character  for  integ- 
rity, that  he  frequently,  as  we  were  informed, 
obtained  on  credit  slops,  flour,  and  rum,  in  large 
quantities,  which  he  retailed  both  to  his  own  country- 
men and  to  the  whalers.  We  were  much  amused  at 
the  pride  the  whalers  evidently  took  in  him.  He 
was  both  their  patron  and  their  protege;  and  was 
appealed  to  as  evidence  of  what  they  had  done  to- 
wards civilising  the  New  Zealanders." 

In  the  palmy  days  of  whaling  in  New  Zealand 
some  of  the  whaling  stations  grew  into  large  hamlets. 
Te  Awa-iti  in  Queen  Charlotte  Sound  contained  in 
1839  thirty  houses,  and  Jerningham  Wakefield  cal- 
culates that  at  that  time  there  must  have  been  in  the 
South  Island  quite  500  white  men  engaged  in  the  in- 
dustry. In  some  cases  their  dwelling  places  were 
made  of  sawn  timber,  but  as  a  general  rule  they  were 
"  built  of  reeds  and  rushes  over  wooden  frames,  with 
two  square  holes  furnished  with  shutters  for  win- 
dows. One  side  of  the  hut  was  provided  with  a  huge 
chimney,  and  the  other  with  sleeping-bunks.  In  the 
centre  of  the  room  stood  a  deal  table  with  long 
benches;  from  the  rafters  hung  coils  of  ropes,  oars, 
masts,  harpoons,  and  a  tin  oil  lamp.  Piled  up  in 


52  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  corner  were  casks  of  meat  and  tobacco; 
suspended  against  the  wall  were  muskets  and 
pistols ;  in  the  chimney  hung  hams,  fish,  and  bacon : 
around  the  fire  lay  dogs,  half  caste  children,  and 
natives,  relatives  of  the  whaler's  wife."  * 

In  the  North  there  was  springing  up  in  the  Bay 
of  Islands  a  settlement  of  a  very  different  character. 
The  bay  with  its  noble  and  beautiful  harbour  had 
early  in  the  century  become  a  resort  of  whaling  ships 
in  quest  of  Kauri  pine  for  masts,  and  of  fresh  water, 
potatoes  and  pigs,  of  which  there  was  an  abundant 
supply.  About  1825  a  few  Europeans  settled  per- 
manently there  and  five  years  later  a  grog-shop  made 
its  appearance.  Up  to  that  time  the  place  had  been 
respectable;  so  respectable,  indeed,  that  when  a  ves- 
sel containing  eighty  escaped  convicts  attempted  to 
land,  an  old  trader  assisted  by  Maoris,  not  only  com- 
pelled the  band  to  surrender,  but  sent  them  back  to 
Sydney,  where  several  of  the  ringleaders  were 
hanged.  After  1830,  however,  Kororareka,  as  the 
settlement  was  called,  became  the  Alsatia  of  the 
South  Pacific.  The  population  rapidly  increased 
until  in  1838  it  was  estimated  to  contain  1000  in- 
habitants. Ships  thronged  the  harbour;  and  on 
shore  grog-shanties,  billiard  tables,  gambling  hells 
and  worse,  throve  on  the  vices  and  wants  of  their 
crews.  The  motley  crowd  of  traders,  sailors, 
escaped  convicts,  sawyers,  beach-combers  drank  and 
quarrelled  and  fought  with  each  other  eveiy  hour  of 
the  day  and  night.  Revelry,  indeed,  never  ceased 
at  Kororareka,  and  when  Maori  chiefs  sought  profit 
in  pimping  for  the  crews  of  sailing  vessels,  the  place 
became  a  "  hell  on  earth."  Missionaries  warned  and 

*  Thomson's  Stojy  of  New  Zealand  (1859). 


PIONEERS.  53 

protested  in  vain.  The  Governor  of  New  South 
Wales  had  but  the  shadow  of  authority  in  New  Zea- 
land, and  he  was  too  distant  to  be  able  to  exercise 
any  check  upon  these  proceedings.  Things  reached 
such  a  pass  that  the  more  respectable  inhabitants 
instituted  an  Association  for  the  preservation  of 
something  like  law  and  order.  For  smaller  offences 
fines  were  imposed,  whilst  graver  misdemeanours, 
among  which  the  refusal  to  pay  debts  was  one,  were 
visited  with  expulsion  or  tarring  and  feathering. 
One  of  the  rules  of  their  code  was  that  every  man 
should  provide  himself  with  a  musket,  bayonet,  pis- 
tols, cutlass,  and  twenty  rounds  of  ball  cartridge ! 

Thomson  gives  an  amusing  description  of  a  case 
of  tarring  and  feathering :  "  The  culprit,  a  white 
man,  already  nearly  suffocated  from  being  secured 
all  night  in  a  sea  chest,  was  first  denuded  of  his 
garments,  then  smeared  thickly  over  with  tar,  and 
covered  with  the  white  feathery  flowers  of  the  raupo 
plant,  for  want  of  true  feathers.  He  was  then 
marched  along  the  beach,  preceded  by  a  fife  and 
drum  playing  the  Rogue's  March,  and  accompanied 
by  drunken  white  men  and  astonished  natives:  then 
the  criminal  was  put  into  a  canoe  with  the  musicians, 
and  landed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay,  beyond 
the  Association's  jurisdiction,  with  an  assurance  that 
his  reappearance  in  the  settlement  would  be  followed 
by  another  tarring  and  feathering." 


54  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN  1800  AND  1840. 
FLOTSAM  AND  JETSAM. 

BESIDES  the  sealer  and  whaler,  and  the  trader 
who  came  and  went,  there  were  pioneers  of  another 
class,  who,  from  choice  or  necessity,  cut  themselves 
off  from  civilisation  and  threw  in  their  lot  with  the 
Maoris.  Some  were  just  ordinary  runaway  sailors, 
some  were  convicts,  some  were  men  who  had  seen 
better  days;  not  a  few  of  them  were  ruffians  of  the 
first  water:  all  of  them  were  vagabondes,  drifting 
adventurers,  impatient  of  restraint;  men  to  whom 
the  old  life  and  ways  had  grown  savourless.  Many 
of  them  simply  loafed  by  beach  and  stream,  steeping 
their  senses  in  forgetf ulness ;  lulled  into  a  dreamless 
torpor  by  the  fascination  of  some  brown-eyed  native 
woman.  Others  carried  with  them  the  masterful 
energy  of  their  race  and  by  force  of  arm  and  mental 
superiority  won  the  respect  and  liking  of  their  dusky 
companions. 

New  Zealand  knew  these  adventurers  long  before 
the  Pakeha  Maori  became  a  name  or  a  power  in  the 
land;  yet  to  all  intents  and  purposes  they  were  of 
the  same,  breed.  The  natives  were  not  always  kind 
to  these  early  landlopers.  At  first  they  regarded 
them  as  animal  curiosities  and  a  tribe  was  proud  of 
its  white  man,  just  as  it  would  have  been  proud  of  a 
white  elephant.  But  there  was  no  telling  when  the 


FLOTSAM  AND  JETSAM.  55 

novelty  would  wear  off.  When  it  did,  the  fate  of 
the  pakeha  was  sealed,  he  was  either  enslaved  or 
clubbed.  "  A  loose,  straggling  pakeha — a  runaway 
from  a  ship,  for  instance,  who  had  nothing, 
and  was  never  likely  to  have  anything — a  va- 
grant straggler  passing  from  place  to  place —  was 
not  of  much  account  in  those  times.  Two  men 
of  this  description  (runaway  sailors)  were  hos- 
pitably entertained  one  night  by  a  chief,  a  very 
particular  friend  of  mine,  who,  to  pay  himself  for 
his  trouble  and  outlay,  ate  one  of  them  next  morning. 
Remember,  my  good  reader,  I  don't  deal  in  fiction. 
My  friend  ate  the  pakeha,  sure  enough,  and  killed 
him  before  he  ate  him,  which  was  civil,  for  it  was 
not  always  done.  But  then,  certainly,  the  pakeha 
was  a  tutua — a  nobody,  a  fellow  not  worth  a  spike- 
nail.  'No  one  knew  him.  He  had  no  relations,  no 
goods,  no  expectations,  no  anything:  what  could  be 
made  of  him  ?  Of  what  use  on  earth  was  he  except 
to  eat?  But  good  well-to-do  pakehas,  traders,  ship 
captains,  labourers,  or  employers  of  labour,  these 
were  to  be  honoured,  cherished,  caressed,  protected, 
and  plucked.  Plucked  judiciously  (the  Maori  is  a 
clever  fellow  in  his  way),  so  that  the  feathers 
might  grow."  *  Escapes  from  Botany  Bay  found 
the  society  of  Maori  gentlemen  different  from  what 
they  anticipated.  In  most  cases  they  were  glad  to 
give  themselves  up  to  chains  and  justice — or  what 
was  deemed  justice  by  our  fathers. 

One  of  the  earliest  of  the  pakehas  was  George 
Bruce,  whose  story  is  worth  telling.  He  settled  at 
the  Bay  of  Islands  about  1804,  wedded  the  daughter 
of  a  chief,  to  whom  he  had  been  kind  on  a  voyage 

*  Old  Neiv  Zealand.    By  the  Pakeha  Maori. 


56  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

from  Sydney,  and  received  a  grant  of  land  from  the 
tribe.  For  several  years  he  lived  in  peace  among 
them,  respected  and  valued  as  an  agent  between  the 
natives  and  the  whalers.  Misfortune,  however,  was 
in  store  for  him.  The  captain  of  an  English  ship 
induced  Bruce  and  his  wife  to  accompany  him  on  a 
voyage  to  North  Cape  in  search  of  gold ;  but  failing 
to  find  any  gold,  this  ruffian,  notwithstanding  his 
promise  to  land  the  couple  at  the  Bay  of  Islands, 
sailed  to  Malacca,  where  he  left  Bruce  on  shore  and 
carrying  off  the  wife  to  Penang,  sold  her  to  the  cap- 
tain of  another  ship.  The  unhappy  husband  fol- 
lowed and  having  at  length  succeeded  in  recovering 
his  wife,  proceeded  to  Calcutta  in  the  hope  of  find- 
ing there  a  vessel  to  convey  him  to  New  Zealand. 
They  never  reached  their  home,  however,  and  their 
fate  is  unknown. 

The  adventures  of  Stewart,  after  whom  Stewart's 
Island  is  named,  might  have  been  the  foundation  of 
Tennyson's  Enoch  Arden.  After  being  for  years 
engaged  as  a  sealer  in  New  Zealand,  he  returned  to 
Scotland  where,  as  he  might  have  expected  after  so 
long  an  absence,  he  found  his  wife  wedded  to  an- 
other. Less  self-restrained  than  Enoch,  he  made 
himself  known,  but  when  his  wife  persisted  in  deny- 
ing his  identity,  he  returned,  in  disgust,  to  his  Maori 
friends  in  New  Zealand.  A  Highlander  and  Jaco- 
bite, he  wore  the  tartans  to  the  last,  and  died  penni- 
less at  Poverty  Bay,  sincerely  regretted  by  the 
Maoris. 

It  was  not  till  the  second  decade  that  the  pakeha 
really  became  important.  During  that  period  the 
universal  desire  for  fire-arms  developed  a  keen  com- 
mercial spirit  among  all  the  tribes,  and  in  prosecut- 
ing their  trade  they  soon  discovered  the  value  of  the 


FLOTSAM  AND  JETSAM.  57 

poor  pakeha,  hitherto  despised  or  eaten.  His  status 
was  changed  as  if  by  magic.  From  being  a  slave 
and  a  nobody,  he  suddenly  became  a  person  of  dis- 
tinction, an  ambassador,  sometimes  a  chieftain. 
The  tribes  vied  with  each  other  in  heaping  honours 
upon  the  head  of  the  stranger,  and  boasted  of  the 
superior  qualities  of  their  particular  pakeha.  They 
gave  him  house,  land,  as  many  wives  as  he  would 
from  among  the  daughters  of  the  chiefs,  and  pro- 
tected him  as  a  jewel  of  great  price.  The  pakeha 
himself  was  not  unhappy,  notwithstanding  that  he 
was  "  plucked  judiciously "  whenever  occasion  of- 
fered. He  liked  distinction,  freedom  from  labour, 
and  his  heart  went  out  to  his  native  wife  and  their 
half-caste  children. 

His  business  was  to  conduct  the  trade  of  the  tribe, 
to  barter  native  products, — pigs,  potatoes,  flax — for 
blankets,  tobacco,  and  more  especially  muskets  and 
powder.  His  busy  season  was  when  the  potato  crop 
was  ready  to  be  dug  up  and  the  flax  to  be  cut.  Ac- 
companied by  an  escort  of  bearers,  all  loaded  with 
"  trade,"  he  would  make  his  way  to  the  nearest  sea- 
port frequented  by  trading  vessels,  and  there,  amid 
scenes  of  barbaric  feasting  and  carousal,  dispose  of 
his  goods  to  his  own  advantage  and  that  of  his  tribe. 
On  the  return  of  the  convoy,  laden  with  the  mer- 
chandise of  the  white  men,  the  pakeha  was  greeted 
with  great  jubilation,  and  still  more  barbaric  feast- 
ings  ensued. 

The  palmiest  period  of  the  pakeha  Maori  was 
from  1830  to  1840.  After  the  arrival  of  Hobson,  his 
influence  declined  rapidly,  for  with  the  advent  of 
white  settlers  the  Maori  discovered  that  trade  could 
be  carried  on  without  the  use  of  an  agent.  The 
good  old  days  lamented  so  humorously  by  Judge 


58  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Maning  in  Old  New  Zealand,  passed  away  with  the 
Treaty  of  Waitangi.  Here  and  there  by  the  shore 
of  lake  and  on  the  bank  of  stream,  the  traveller 
might  come  across  the  lonely  hut  of  a  pakeha,  fallen 
on  evil  days,  and  eking  out  a  scanty  living  by  fishing 
or  rearing  pigs.  He  was  no  longer  a  person  of  con- 
sequence, although  he  always  enjoyed  the  confidence 
and  friendship  of  his  Maori  kinsmen. 

A  good  deal  of  controversy  has  been  waged  over 
the  pakehas.  The  missionaries,  good  but  somewhat 
narrow-minded  men,  had  no  word  of  praise  for 
them.  Certainly  they  were  not  saints,  but  rough- 
diamonds  though  most  of  them  were,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  first  colonists  owed  much  to  them. 
Their  adoption  into  the  tribes  gave  them  opportuni- 
ties of  studying  the  intricate  and  puzzling  customs 
of  the  Maoris  such  as  no  other  white  men  enjoyed, 
and  the  trade  which  flourished  under  their  super- 
vision, although  it  had  its  dark  side,  taught  the 
Maoris  the  advantage  of  regular  industry,  and  in- 
spired them  with  confidence  in  white  men. 


EONGOPA1— GLAD  TIDINGS.  59 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN   1800  AND  1840. 
EONGOPAI GLAD    TIDINGS. 

IT  would  be  difficult  to  overrate  the  value  of  mis- 
sionary work  among  the  Maoris,  or  to  overpraise  the 
courage  and  devotion  of  the  pioneer  missionaries. 
They  made  mistakes,  it  is  true;  their  narrowness 
retarded  colonisation,  and  they  were  often  deceived 
as  to  the  depth  and  sincerity  of  the  native  profession 
of  faith.  But  even  a  "  skin-deep  "  Christianity  was 
better  than  the  old  superstitions;  and  when  all  de- 
ductions are  made,  it  must  still  be  admitted  that  the 
humanising  of  the  Maori  was,  to  a  large  extent,  due 
to  the  introduction  and  spread  of  Christianity.  It 
was  the  missionary  who  broke  the  spell  of  the  tapu 
and  gave  the  death-blow  to  infanticide  and  can- 
nibalism. 

The  Augustine  of  New  Zealand  was  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Marsden,  senior  chaplain  of  New  South 
Wales.  Originally  a  blacksmith,  brought  up  among 
Methodists  in  a  Yorkshire  village,  and  educated  at 
Cambridge,  Marsden  was  noted  from  the  first  for  his 
piety  and  singular  catholicity  of  spirit.  Neither  a 
bigot  nor  a  sectarian,  his  sympathy  went  out  freely 
to  men  of  other  denominations,  and  he  had  the  good 
sense  to  see  that  the  missionary  should  be  a  civilising 
agent  in  the  worldly  sense  as  well  as  a  preacher  of 
the  Gospel.  His  interest  in  New  Zealand  dated 


60  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

from  his  having  seen  some  Maori  chiefs  in  the  streets 
of  Sydney.  Struck  by  their  appearance,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  establishing  a  Christian  mission 
in  their  native  land.  During  a  visit  to  England  in 
1809,  he  persuaded  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
to  send  out  with  him  a  number  of  persons,  mostly 
laymen,  to  found  a  mission  among  the  Maoris.  On 
the  vessel  that  took  them  to  Sydney  was  Ruatara,  a 
nephew  of  Hongi.  He  had  worked  his  passage  to 
England  in  the  hope  of  seeing  King  George,  but  had 
been  badly  treated  and  defrauded  of  his  wages  by 
the  rascally  captain  with  whom  he  made  the  voyage. 
Utterly  destitute,  disappointed  in  his  great  ambition, 
smarting  under  a  sense  of  injury  and  insult,  the  un- 
fortunate chief  now  found  a  friend  and  protector  in 
Marsden,  who  took  him  to  Parramatta  and  taught 
him  the  rudiments  of  Christianity.  When  Marsden 
returned  to  Sydney,  news  of  the  Boyd  massacre  had 
created  a  panic  among  those  who  were  accustomed 
to  trade  in  New  Zealand,  and  the  mission  party,  un- 
able to  find  a  ship  to  the  islands,  was  disbanded,  most 
of  its  members  finding  employment  in  Sydney. 
Marsden,  however,  did  not  allow  these  difficulties  to 
shake  his  resolution.  At  his  own  expense  he  pur- 
chased a  vessel  and  despatched  to  New  Zealand  the 
two  lay  missionaries,  Hall  and  Kendall,  with  a  let- 
ter to  his  pupil  Ruatara,  who  had  returned  some 
time  previously.  Marsden  had  given  Ruatara  a 
supply  of  seed  wheat,  and,  curiously  enough,  this 
present  was  partly  responsible  for  the  friendly  recep- 
tion accorded  to  the  missionaries.  Ruatara's  crop  of 
wheat  was  a  many  days'  wonder  to  his  kinsfolk. 
"  They  knew  the  value  of  roots ;  but  how  the  wheat 
could  yield  the  flour,  out  of  which  the  bread  and 
"biscuits,  they  had  eaten  in  English  ships,  were  made, 


RONGOPAI— GLAD  TIDINGS.  (ft 

was  more  than  they  could  understand.  They  tore 
up  some  of  the  stalks,  expecting  to  find  something 
like  their  own  potato  at  the  root.  That  the  ears 
should  furnish  the  substance  of  a  loaf  of  bread  was 
not  to  be  believed.  Either  Ruatara  was  playing  a 
trick  with  them,  or  he  had  himself  been  duped,  and 
they  were  not  going  to  be  so  taken  in. 

"  Ruatara  had  only  to  wait.  The  field  was  reaped, 
and  the  corn  threshed  out;  then  he  found  himself 
minus  a  mill !  He  tried  in  vain  to  grind  his  corn 
in  a  coffee-mill,  borrowed  from  a  trading  ship ;  and 
now  his  friends  laughed  at  him  for  his  simplicity. 

"  Fortunately,  the  missionaries  brought  him  a 
hand-mill.  Still  incredulous,  the  people  assembled  to 
watch  the  result ;  but  when  the  meal  began  to  stream 
out  beneath  the  machine,  their  surprise  was  great, 
and  when  a  cake  was  hastily  baked  in  a  frying-pan 
they  shouted  and  they  danced  for  joy.  Ruatara  was 
now  believed.  He  was  right  in  the  matter  of  the 
wheat,  and  they  could  trust  him  as  to  his  report  of 
the  missionaries ;  they  were  good  men." 

Hall  and  Kendall  returned  to  Sydney  in  October 
1814,  taking  with  them  Hongi,  Ruatara  and  other 
chiefs,  all  of  whom  found  a  home  under  Marsden's 
hospitable  roof.  Hongi,  already  a  noted  warrior 
and  dreaming  of  future  conquests,  heard  the  Gospel 
without  heeding,  but  recognising  that  the  mis- 
sionaries were  "  good  men  "  whose  presence  might 
be  used  to  further  his  ambitions,  he  promised  Mars- 
den  that  lie  would  protect  those  about  to  be  de- 
spatched to  New  Zealand. 

Marsden  now  determined  to  go  to  New  Zealand 
himself,  and  in  November  1814,  he  set  out  in  the 
Active,  accompanied  by  Kendall,  IJall  and  King, 
their  families,  a  few  mechanics  and  a  retinue  of 


62  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

eight  Maoris.  Strong  in  his  faith  "  that  you  cannot 
form  a  nation  without  commerce  and  the  civil  arts  " 
he  loaded  the  ship  with  useful  tools  and  barter,  with 
seeds  and  cattle  and  horses.  Arriving  at  the  Bay 
of  Islands,  Marsden  found  that  the  local  natives 
were  engaged  in  a  war  with  those  of  Wangaroa,  and 
one  of  his  first  duties  was  to  endeavour  to  make  peace 
between  them.  As  a  result  of  his  efforts  the  hostile 
chiefs  were  soon  rubbing  noses  in  token  of  friend- 
ship. His  description  of  his  first  night  on  shore, 
recalls  something  of  the  romantic  interest  which 
pioneers  feel :  "  The  night  was  clear,  the  stars  shone 
bright,  and  the  sea  in  our  front  was  smooth.  Around 
us  were  innumerable  spears  stuck  upright  in  the 
ground,  and  groups  of  natives  lying  in  all  directions, 
like  a  flock  of  sheep  upon  the  grass,  as  there  were 
neither  tents  nor  huts  to  cover  them.  I  viewed  our 
present  situation  with  sensations  and  feelings  that 
I  cannot  express,  surrounded  by  cannibals  who  had 
massacred  and  devoured  our  countrymen."  The 
landing  of  the  goods  was  watched  by  the  natives 
with  marked  interest,  and  when  they  saw  the  good 
Marsden  mounted  on  one  of  the  horses,  their 
astonishment  was  unbounded.  It  was  a  glimpse 
into  a  new  world.  The  missionaries  were  intro- 
duced to  the  chiefs,  Marsden  explaining  the  duties 
of  9ach.  Kendall  was  to  teach  the  children ;  Hall  to 
build  houses  and  boats;  King  to  make  fishing-lines. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  mission  station  was  to 
be  a  sort  of  industrial  school  as  well  as  a  centre  of 
Christian  influence.  On  the  Saturday  after  their 
arrival  the  faithful  Ruatara  had  fenced  in  half  an 
acre  of  ground,  erected  a  pulpit,  and  arranged  seats 
made  of  old  canoes;  and  in  this  singular  church 
Marsden  preached  his  first  sermon  in  New  Zealand, 


RONGOPAI— GLAD  TIDINGS.  63 

Ruatara  acting  as  interpreter.  Hongi  was  there 
dressed  in  regimentals,  with  a  sword  dangling  at  his 
side  and  a  switch  in  his  hand.  Another  chief,  Koro- 
koro,  acted  as  a  kind  of  master  of  ceremonies,  signal- 
ling with  his  switch  when  the  audience  was  to  stand 
and  when  to  sit  down. 

Afterwards  Marsden  undertook  a  short  coasting 
voyage  and  was  everywhere  well  received,  his  name 
acting  like  a  talisman  among  the  natives.  In  one 
respect  alone  he  disappointed  them — he  would 
supply  no  weapons  of  war.  Many  of  the  Maoris 
refused  to  work  or  trade  except  for  muskets  and 
powder;  but  the  missionaries  held  out,  and  in  time 
were  able  to  get  all  the  assistance  they  required  by 
the  exchange  of  tools  of  husbandry,  blankets,  pipes, 
and  other  articles.  After  completing  the  purchase 
of  200  acres  of  land  at  Rangiho  for  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  Marsden  returned  to  Sydney. 
He  made  no  less  than  seven  visits  to  New  Zealand, 
the  last  in  1837  when  he  was  seventy-two  years  old. 
His  influence  did  much  to  mitigate  the  ferocity  of 
intertribal  fighting  and  his  name  was  revered  by 
white  men  of  all  sects  and  classes,  although  he  was 
severe  upon  the  pakehas  who,  he  says,  were  "  gen- 
erally men  of  the  most  infamous  character,  runaway 
convicts  and  sailors  and  publicans,  who  opened 
grogshops  in  the  pahs,  where  riot,  drunkenness,  and 
prostitution  are  carried  on  daily."  The  Maoris 
loved  him  and  trusted  him  as  a  father.  On  the  oc- 
casion of  his  last  visit,  when  he  was  no  longer  able 
to  ride,  they  insisted  on  carrying  him  on  a  kauhoa 
or  hammock,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  demon- 
strate the  great  affection  they  felt  towards  him. 

In  a  short  sketch  like  this  it  would  be  impossible 
to  give  anything  like  a  history  of  missions  in  New 


64  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Zealand  or  to  describe  the  labours  of  individual 
missionaries,  several  of  whom  were  men  of  great 
tact  and  ability.  The  original  party  was  soon 
augmented  and  another  station  founded  at  the  Keri- 
keri  in  1819.  Three  years  later  Mr.  Leigh  estab- 
lished the  first  Wesleyan  mission  in  the  valley  of 
Kaeo  at  Wangaroa,  where  the  natives  were  less 
tractable  than  those  at  the  Bay  of  Islands,  refusing 
to  supply  food  except  for  arms  and  powder,  and  gen- 
erally behaving  with  ferocious  insolence.  "  They  are 
almost  past  bearing,"  wrote  one  of  the  missionaries, 
"  coming  into  our  houses  when  they  please,  demand- 
ing food,  thieving  whatever  they  can  lay  their  hands 
on,  breaking  down  our  garden  fences,  stripping  the 
ship's  boats  of  everything  they  can.  They  seem,  in 
fact,  ripe  for  any  mischief."  After  the  destruction 
of  this  station  in  1827  by  some  of  Hongi's  people, 
the  Wesleyans  selected  a  site  on  the  Hokianga  River 
and  thence  extended  their  influence  to  many  parts  of 
the  country.  Up  to  1832  the  mission  stations,  both 
Anglican  and  Wesleyan,  were  confined  to  the 
northern  portion  of  the  North  Island ;  but  after  that 
date  the  missionaries  began  to  operate  over  a  wider 
field,  forming  fresh  stations  and  travelling,  on  foot 
for  the  most  part,  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  Among  individual  missionaries  may 
be  mentioned  Archdeacon  Henry  Williams,  hif 
brother  William  Williams,  afterwards  Bishop  oi 
Waiapu,  and  Maunsell,  among  the  Anglicans ;  and 
among  the  Wesleyans,  Turner  and  Hobbs.  Arch- 
deacon Williams  was  accused  of  meddling  in  politics 
and  also  of  "  land  sharking  "  in  the  interests  of  his 
family,  but  he  was  a  man  of  great  courage  and  reso- 
lution, singularly  fitted  to  influence  and  dominate 
the  minds  of  turbulent  savages.  Bishop  Williams 


RONGOPAI— GLAD  TIDINGS.  65 

and  the  Rev.  Robert  Maunsell  were  conspicuous  for 
their  labours  in  translating  the  Scriptures  into 
Maori. 

The  utmost  cordiality  prevailed  between  the  two 
societies.  Nothing  like  sectarian  bitterness  ap- 
peared until  the  arrival  of  Pompallier.  Bishop 
Selwyn,  at  his  first  coming,  was  also  inclined  to 
exhibit  an  exclusive  spirit,  of  which  he  afterwards 
repented.  In  the  early  days,  however,  Marsden's 
tolerance  and  generosity  influenced  all  mission 
efforts  in  New  Zealand  and  united  Anglicans  and 
Wesleyans  in  a  "  holy "  rivalry  and  brotherhood. 
It  was  well  that  it  was  so.  For  fifteen  years  their 
preaching  and  teaching  seemed  to  be  fruitless;  they 
were  like  men  crying  in  the  wilderness.  Converts 
were  few  and  the  great  mass  of  the  natives  were,  to 
quote  Archdeacon  Williams,  "  as  insensible  to  the 
necessity  of  redemption  as  brutes."  After  1830  a 
marked  change  took  place,  and  the  years  in  which 
New  Zealand  was  desolated  by  savage  native  wars, 
were  marked  by  an  almost  universal  interest  in 
Christianity,  or  what  the  Maori  mind  took  for  Chris- 
tianity. Both  Societies  were  now  able  to  fill  their 
schools  and  churches.  In  the  schools  adults  sat 
side  by  side  with  children,  and  were  eager  to  master 
the  magic  of  reading  and  writing,  as  well  as  to  study 
the  new  methods  of  farming  and  gardening  intro- 
duced by  the  missionaries.  It  is  no  derogation  from 
the  value  of  missionary  labours  to  say  that  the 
Maoris  were  attracted  to  Christianity  more  from 
worldly  and  utilitarian  motives  than  from  a  true 
appreciation  of  its  spiritual  significance.  The  re- 
ligion of  the  converts  was  too  often  a  ludicrous  mix- 
ture of  the  old  paganism  and  Christian  dogma.  The 
tapu  long  retained  its  ancient  terrors  and  when 

F 


66  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

sickness  came  their  thoughts  were  apt  to  revert  to 
the  ancestral  superstitions.  It  could  not  be  other- 
wise. Many  zealous  converts  exhibited  an  inordi- 
nate love  of  verbal  quibbling  and  argument;  and 
their  disputatious  and  vain-glorious  spirit  precipi- 
tated tribal  quarrels  and  led  to  a  good  deal  of  blood- 
shed. As  an  illustration  of  this  the  story  of  the 
Protestant  Martyrs  of  Taupo  may  be  given.  The 
Waitotara,  a  Wanganui  tribe,  recently  christianised, 
sent  native  teachers  to  convert  the  Taupo  tribes, 
ancient  enemies  of  theirs.  Te  Heu  Heu,  the  Taupo 
chief,  ordered  these  emissaries  to  return  whence  they 
came,  and  informed  them  that  if  they  ventured  again 
into  his  dominions  he  "  would  eat  their  heads  and 
make  cartridge  paper  of  their  hymn-books."  There- 
upon the  Christians  insulted  a  chief  of  the  Patuto- 
kutu,  who  in  turn  ravaged  the  lands  of  the  Chris- 
tians. Finally  the  infidels  took  refuge  in  one  of 
their  strongholds  and  were  besieged  there  by  the 
Waitotara.  The  besieged  having  exhausted  their 
provisions  and  ammunition,  a  parley  was  agreed  to, 
and  it  was  arranged  that  the  besiegers  were  to  be 
allowed  to  enter  the  fort,  shake  hands  with  the 
infidels  according  to  the  new  custom  of  salutation 
common  among  Christians,  and  then  the  infidels  were 
to  be  permitted  to  depart  in  peace  for  Wanganui. 
Mr.  Matthews  (a  European  missionary)  was  present 
when  the  following  scene  occurred.  The  infidels 
advanced  with  outstretched  right  hands  to  receive 
the  arranged  greeting,  these  the  Christians  seized 
with  their  left  hands,  and  then  assaulted  their  help- 
less foes  with  concealed  tomahawks.  A  frightful 
carnage  ensued;  those  who  escaped  fled  down  the 
hill,  and  many  of  them  were  shot  by  parties  in  am- 
bush." The  catastrophe  which  befell  Te  Heu  Heu 


RONGOPAI— GLAD  TIDINGS.  67 

furnished  the  Christian  savages  with  a  powerful 
argument.  The  village  of  Te  Rapa,  where  the  Taupo 
chief  resided,  was  situated  in  a  valley  near  Lake 
Taupo.  The  hills  around  it  were  full  of  hot  springs 
and  fumaroles,  and  undermined  by  volcanic  fires. 
In  1846,  after  heavy  rains,  "  an  immense  mass  of 
mountain  loosened  and  overwhelmed  the  village;  all 
within  it  perished  save  a  young  man  and  a  horse." 
The  Waitotara,  seeing  in  this  the  finger  of  God, 
plucked  up  courage  and  again  sent  two  missionaries 
into  the  Taupo  country.  Both  of  them  were  mur- 
dered, however. 

The  Maoris  joined  eagerly  in  the  unfortunate  dis- 
putes which  took  place  among  the  Wesleyan,  Angli- 
can, and  Roman  Catholic  missionary  societies.  At 
first  perplexed  by  these  varieties  of  creed,  they  soon 
learned  to  take  sides  like  their  betters.  Their  sec- 
tarianism though  bitter  had  its  amusing  side.  In 
the  Taranaki  district  the  feud  between  rival  congre- 
gations went  to  such  a  length  that  one  party  "  erected 
a  fence  and  lined  it  thickly  with  fern,  so  that  the 
other  might  not  see  them."  Rauparaha's  son,  on  his 
return  from  England  in  1850,  accused  a  missionary 
of  Puseyism !  Europeans  were  now  occasionally 
asked  to  confess  their  religious  beliefs  before  receiv- 
ing hospitality.  On  one  occasion  a  traveller  arrived  at 
a  pa,  in  which  one  religious  party  disputing  with 
another  had  got  possession  of  the  gate,  which  to  his 
astonishment  he  found  shut;  and  the  first  question 
asked  of  him  was,  "  To  what  church  do  you  belong  ?" 
The  traveller,  seeing  at  once  that  his  supper  and 
night's  lodging  entirely  depended  upon  his  answer, 
after  some  hesitation  replied,  "  To  the  true  church ;" 
which  of  course  satisfied  both  parties,  and  the  gate 


68  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

was  instantly  opened,  and  a  feast  prepared  for  him- 
self and  followers. 

These  bickerings  must  not  blind  us  to  the  human- 
ising influence  of  missionary  work.  With  few  ex- 
ceptions the  missionaries  followed  in  the  steps  of 
Marsden,  and  joined  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
the  civilising  influence  of  useful  industries.  Where 
they  confined  themselves  merely  to  preaching,  their 
converts  tended  to  degenerate  into  loafers;  but  at 
mission  stations  where  the  plough  and  the  spade  were 
in  daily  evidence,  the  Maoris  developed  habits  of 
regular  industry  which  were  incalculably  more  val- 
uable than  a  facility  for  quoting  the  Scriptures  and 
a  turn  for  disputation.  One  who  deprecated  Mars- 
den's  enthusiasm  for  secular  means  of  civilisation  is 
obliged  to  admit  that  "  skill  in  husbandry  and  horti- 
culture, a  practical  knowledge  of  mechanics,  and  an 
acquaintance  with  surgery  and  medicine,  are  highly 
important  qualifications  in  a  missionary."  His 
superiority  in  these  matters  was  the  measure  of  the 
respect  the  natives  paid  him.  The  same  gentleman 
tells  us  that  he  built  his  own  house  and  even  tried  hia 
hand  at  erecting  a  brick  chimney.  He  tried  to  sur- 
round himself  with  all  the  adjuncts  of  an  English 
home.  "  On  a  lone  spot,"  he  writes,  "  where  I  lived 
for  many  years,  there  grew  up,  step  by  step,  a  farm 
in  miniature.  We  had  in  time  a  large  and  commo- 
dious dwelling  house ;  a  good  lawn  and  shrubbery  in 
front  of  it,  a  fruit  garden  and  orchard  at  the  back. 
Every  sort  of  fruit,  from  the  grape  to  the  gooseberry, 
grew  in  abundance.  In  the  green  meadows,  re- 
deemed from  the  forest,  and  enclosed  by  hedges  of 
thorn  and  sweetbriar,  with  the  multiflora  rose  and 
honeysuckle,  might  be  seen  horses,  cows,  and,  in 
time,  sheep,  peacefully  grazing.  A  well  stocked 


RONGOPAI— GLAD  TIDINGS.  69 

poultry  yard  gave  variety  to  the  table,  while  wild 
ducks  were  numerous  on  the  river  and  wood  pigeons 
in  the  forest.  The  neat  little  church  stood  on  an 
elevation  and  near  it  was  the  burial-ground  and  the 
bell ;  and  not  far  off,  was  the  school  and  the  natives' 
houses.  By  the  river  side  were  a  substantial  wharf 
and  boatshed,  and  conspicuous  among  the  rest  was 
a  small  windmill."  At  the  Church  Mission  Station 
of  Waimate,  Darwin  saw  in  1835  "  a  well  stocked 
farm-yard  and  fields  of  corn,  a  threshing  barn,  a 
winnowing  machine,  a  blacksmith's  forge,  a  water- 
mill,  and  plough-shares."  Most  of  the  work  was 
performed  by  native  labourers. 

The  missionary's  knowledge  of  medicine  also 
greatly  enhanced  his  influence.  "  Calomel  and 
blood-letting,"  writes  one,  "  were  fashionable  reme- 
dies at  that  time.  I  fear  that  with  the  best  inten- 
tions, no  little  harm  was  done  in  the  use  of  those 
measures.  The  people,  however,  had  the  fullest  con- 
fidence in  our  skill,  and  by  their  continual  coming 
with  aches  and  pains,  as  well  as  with  more  serious 
ailments,  gave  us  ample  practice  in  the  healing  art." 
Sometimes  they  had  to  deal  with  imaginary  diseases. 
"  As  an  example,  I  may  cite,"  says  the  same  writer, 
"  the  case  of  an  athletic  young  man  who  was  brought 
to  me  one  day.  From  head  to  foot  he  was  trembling 
with  excitement.  He  had  come  for  some  medicine. 
The  cause  of  his  illness  was  that  he  had,  by  accident, 
eaten  a  sacred  potato.  He  most  firmly  believed 
that,  for  such  an  act  of  sacrilege,  the  offended  God 
had  entered  his  stomach  in  the  form  of  a  lizard,  and 
was  consuming  his  vitals.  Unless  I  could  deliver 
him,  he  must  die.  It  was  equally  vain  to  laugh,  or 
to  reason,  with  superstitious  fear.  After  making 
the  orthodox  examination  of  my  patient  I  gave  him 


70  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

some  aperient  pills,  and  told  him  to  keep  himself 
quiet  for  a  while,  and  he  would  recover.  I  was 
going  on  the  principle  that  like  cures  like.  The 
next  day  I  was  told  that  the  young  man  was  still 
ill,  and  would  die.  Kepairing  to  the  village,  I 
found  him  pale>  haggard,  and  resigned,  sitting  at 
one  end  of  a  long  hut  open  in  front.  From  twenty 
to  thirty  chiefs  were  seated  near  him,  smoking  their 
pipes,  and  discussing  the  current  topics  of  the  day. 
The  old  women  were  preparing  the  ovens  for  the 
entertainment  of  their  friends,  who  would  flock  to 
the  place  at  the  report  of  his  death.  In  three  days 
he  was  to  die,  and  they  were  making  due  preparation 
for  it.  I  expressed  my  regret  and  disappointment 
and  re-examined  my  patient.  I  found  out  my  mis- 
take ;  I  had  given  him  medicine  internally ;  I  would 
now  do  so  externally;  and,  with  an  air  of  greatest 
confidence,  assured  him  that  he  would  recover  im- 
mediately on  its  taking  effect,  which  they  would 
know  by  its  producing  a  stinging  pain.  On  this 
I  sent  him  a  blistering  plaster,  with  directions  to 
apply  it  to  the  chest.  In  less  than  an  hour  the 
young  man  cried  out,  '  It  bites !  It  bites ! '  And  all 
said,  '  Now  he  will  recover.'  And  he  did." 

The  missionaries  have  not  made  enough  of  their 
secular  influence,  possibly  because  by  so  doing  they 
feared  to  be  placed  on  a  level  with  the  pakeha  and 
casual  trader,  whom  they  were  inclined  to  despise. 
Yet  the  lonely  slab  hut  that  contained  the  drunken 
sawyer  and  his  Maori  wife,  was  in  its  way  an  out- 
post and  centre  of  civilisation.  Their  lives,  as  large 
hearted  missionaries  were  willing  to  admit,  were  far 
from  being  wholly  evil.  On  the  banks  of  the 
Hokianga  River  a  considerable  number  of  these  men 
were  settled  between  1830  and  1840.  They  were 


RONGOPAI— GLAD  TIDINGS.  71 

mostly  sawyers  occupied  in  felling  the  Kauri  pine 
and  rafting  the  timber  down  the  river  for  shipment 
to  Australia  or  England.  They  led  the  life  of 
frontier  men  in  all  new  countries  and  must  not  be 
judged  by  ordinary  standards. 

Any  account  of  missionary  effort  in  New  Zealand 
would  be  incomplete  without  some  reference  to  the 
many  journeys  made  by  individual  missionaries 
among  tribes  in  the  interior  or  far  removed  from  the 
usual  haunts  of  white  men.  On  foot  they  threaded 
their  way  through  primeval  forests;  they  swam 
flooded  rivers,  struggled  through  swamps,  crossed 
mountain  ranges  where  foot  of  white  men  had  never 
trodden  before,  and  went  freely  among  savage  and 
distrustful  tribes  with  no  weapons  save  their  Bibles, 
and  a  faith  and  courage  that  neither  hardship  nor 
danger  could  shake.  Dr.  Shortland  who  met  Bishop 
Selwyn  on  one  of  his  pedestrian  tours  quotes  a  bit  of 
native  gossip  which  shows  in  what  esteem  the  ex- 
ponents of  a  fearless  and  muscular  Christianity  were 
held.  "  The  great  physical  power  and  energy  he 
exhibited  in  walking,  and  in  fording  rapid  and 
dangerous  rivers,  even  surpassing  themselves  in  their 
own  excellencies,  was  matter  of  so  much  wonder  that 
they  explained  it  by  saying,  and  believing,  that  these 
qualities  were  the  gift  of  God  for  this  especial 
work."  Selwyn's  journals  read  like  a  romance. 
With  him  the  episcopate  was  "  a  title  not  of  honour, 
but  of  work."  "  No  earthly  dignity,"  he  said  in 
his  first  charge  to  his  clergy,  "  either  in  Church  or 
State,  can  equal  tne  moral  grandeur  of  the  leathern 
girdle  or  the  raiment  of  camel's  hair,  or  the  going 
forth  without  purse  or  scrip,  and  yet  lacking  noth- 
ing." He  practised  what  he  preached,  returning 
often  from  his  expeditions,  shoeless  and  in  tatters; 


72  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

and  there  were  not  a  few  among  the  missionaries  of 
New  Zealand  who  exhibited  the  same  disregard  of 
danger,  and  the  same  moral  heroism  in  enduring 
hardship  and  privation,  qualities  which  appealed 
powerfully  to  a  manly  race  like  the  Maoris. 


WARS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  73 


CIIAPTEK  VIII. 

NEW  ZEALAND  BETWEEN  1800  AND  1840. 
WAES  OF  THE  NATIONS. 

THEKE  was  a  darker  side  to  the  picture  presented 
of  New  Zealand  in  the  previous  chapters.  Events 
happened  which  embittered  the  feelings  of  the 
Maoris  in  certain  parts  towards  white  men,  and  be- 
tween 1820  and  18$0  there  broke  out  a  series  of 
wars  between  the  tribes  which  made  the  country  a 
charnel-house. 

Before  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  in- 
dividual Maoris  had  found  their  way  to  Sydney, 
where  their  stalwart  figures  and  bold  bearing  at- 
tracted much  attention.  They  themselves  when  first 
confronted  with  a  civilised  settlement  exhibited  more 
than  a  savage  curiosity.  They  showed  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  useful  arts  and  endeavoured  to  dis- 
cover the  causes  of  the  white  man's  superiority.  In 
1S05  a  Maori  named  Mohanger  was  taken  to  London 
by  an  English  surgeon  and  returned  to  New  Zealand 
with  a  present  of  carpenter's  tools.  Like  Hongi,  he 
afterwards  expressed  regret  that  he  had  not  asked 
for  fire-arms.  Mohanger  was  the  first  of  a  consider- 
able band  of  Maoris  who  visited  England.  Most 
of  them  proceeded  thither  under  missionary  auspices 
and  their  devout  bearing  and  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures  made  a  favourable  impression  in  certain 


74  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

circles.  Scoffers,  however,  saw  the  astute  savage 
beneath  the  cloak  of  temporary  devoutness.  On 
their  return  to  New  Zealand  these  travellers  were 
to  their  countrymen  like  books  of  wonder  voyages. 
Accounts  of  the  marvels  they  had  seen  circulated 
among  all  the  tribes  and  proved  to  the  Maoris  that 
the  few  whalers  and  traders  they  knew  were  but 
the  advance  guard  of  a  powerful  and  populous  na- 
tion. Many  were  far-sighted  enough  to  perceive 
that  a  day  was  coming  when  the  hosts  of  the  white 
man  might  fill  up  the  land  and  exterminate  the 
Maori,  just  as  the  pakeha  rat  was  killing  off  the 
native  rat. 

The  massacre  of  the  Boyd  in  1809  and  the  sense- 
less and  bloody  revenge  that  was  taken  for  it,  added 
bitterness  to  these  gloomy  forebodings.  The  Boyd 
bound  from  Sydney  to  England  and  carrying  seventy 
Europeans  together  with  five  Maoris,  who  were 
working  their  passage  to  New  Zealand,  called  at 
Wangaroa  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  fresh  spars. 
On  the  voyage  a  Maori  named  Tarra,  a  relative  of  a 
Wangaroa  chief,  had  been  flogged  unmercifully  by 
the  captain  for  alleged  malingering.  Landed  at 
Wangaroa,  he  went  about  among  his  kinsmen,  ex- 
hibiting the  red  wounds  on  his  back  and  calling  for 
revenge.  The  tribe,  as  in  duty  bound,  took  up  his 
quarrel  and  laid  their  plans  with  a  treachery  as  suc- 
cessful as  it  was  sinister.  As  in  the  case  of  Marion, 
the  captain  and  a  portion  of  the  crew  were  enticed 
ashore  on  some  friendly  pretext,  and  there  killed 
and  eaten;  a  fate  which  soon  afterwards  befell  all 
the  people  on  board  the  vessel,  with  the  exception  of 
one  woman,  two  children,  and  a  cabin  boy.  The 
boy  was  saved  by  Tarra  himself  out  of  gratitude  for 
some  small  kindness,  and  the  woman  and  children 


WARS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  75 

were  rescued  by  Mr.  Berry  of  Sydney  and  a  friendly 
chief  named  Te  Pahi. 

This  butchery  carried  out  with  a  cold-blooded 
ferocity  only  equalled  in  the  worst  incidents  of  the 
Indian  Mutiny,  excited  to  madness  the  crews  of  the 
whaling  vessels  then  lying  at  the  Bay  of  Islands. 
Joining  their  forces,  they  swore  to  inflict  a  bloody 
punishment  upon  the  perpetrators  of  the  massacre. 
Wrongly  informed  that  Te  Pahi,  the  rescuer  of  the 
woman  and  children,  had  been  the  instigator  of  the 
crime,  they  fell  upon  his  village  at  the  Bay  of 
Islands :  slew  men,  women  and  children  to  the  num- 
ber of  thirty;  and  destroyed  whares  and  crops, 
everything,  in  fact,  that  fire  or  sword  could  make  an 
end  of.  The  unfortunate  Te  Pahi  escaped  with  a 
wound,  but  shortly  afterwards  was  killed  in  a  fight 
with  the  Wangaroa  people  who  attacked  him  for 
befriending  the  only  survivors  of  the  massacre. 

This  massacre  had  an  abundant  aftercrop  of  evils. 
Among  the  natives  it  bred  feelings  of  distrust  and 
hatred  which  they  nourished  against  a  convenient 
day  of  reckoning:  and  among  the  white  people  it 
led  to  bloody  reprisals  and  to  other  outrages  that  no 
amount  of  charity  can  palliate.  Whalers  kidnapped 
native  women,  and  shot  native  men  on  the  slightest 
provocation.  The  natives  on  their  part  lost  no  op- 
portunity of  returning  blow  for  blow.  The  crews 
of  shipwrecked  vessels  were  killed  and  eaten:  and 
there  is  some  evidence  for  supposing  that  a  sort  of 
organisation  existed  among  the  coastal  tribes  for 
the  capture  of  European  vessels.  In  1823  the 
English  Government,  with  a  view  to  putting  an  end 
to  these  atrocities,  gave  the  Supreme  Courts  of  Aus- 
tralia and  Tasmania  jurisdiction  over  British  sub- 
jects in  New  Zealand.  Some  time  previously,  tho 


76  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

government  of  New  South  Wales,  on  its  own  respon- 
sibility, had  appointed  Mr.  Kendall,  a  missionary, 
and  three  native  chiefs  to  act  as  magistrates  at  the 
Bay  of  Islands.  The  Imperial  authorities  ques- 
tioned the  legality  of  this  step;  in  any  case  it  was 
inadequate  to  cope  with  the  condition  of  affairs  then 
prevailing  in  New  Zealand. 

Circumstances  w.ere  arising,  however,  which  gave 
a  new  direction  to  Maori  ambitions.  A  great  leader 
appeared  and  muskets  began  to  displace  the  ancient 
spear  and  mere.  The  leader  was  Hongi  Hika, 
a  noble  of  the  Ngapuhi  nation.  Born  some- 
where about  17Y7  at  the  Bay  of  Islands,  he  visited 
Sydney  in  1814  and  stayed  some  time  with  Marsden, 
the  zealous  apostle  of  Christianity  among  the 
Maoris.  He  made  no  profession  of  Christianity  at 
this  time,  but  assured  his  host  that  he  would  act  as 
the  protector  of  missionaries  in  New  Zealand,  a 
promise  which  he  respected.  He  accompanied  the 
first  batch  of  missionaries  to  New  Zealand,  but  leav- 
ing them  to  raise  the  white  flag  and  preach  the  gospel 
of  peace,  he  lost  no  time  in  plunging  into  a  series  of 
bloody  tribal  wars,  in  which  he  conquered  and 
ravaged  far  and  wide.  Suddenly  he  determined 
to  pay  a  visit  to  England,  in  order  he  said,  "  to  see 
King  George  and  bring  back  missionaries,  carpenters, 
blacksmiths,  Europeans,  and  twenty  soldiers."  Per- 
haps this  decision  was  the  result  of  an  incident  that 
took  place  in  1818.  In  an  attack  on  the  natives  of 
Tauranga,  a  Ngapuhi  chief  armed  some  of  his  band 
with  muskets  and  routed  the  terrified  enemy  with 
great  slaughter.  Hongi  was  eye-witness  of  the  rout 
and  no  doubt  treasured  the  incident  in  his  memory. 
In  England  he  assisted  a  Cambridge  professor  in 
the  compilation  of  a  Maori  grammar  and  dictionary, 


WAKS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  77 

and  generally  posed  as  a  friend  of  the  missionaries. 
He  was  the  lion  of  the  season,  but  in  the  midst  of 
many  distractions  he  found  time  to  watch  the  evolu- 
tions of  troops,  and  to  inspect  the  cannon  at  the 
Tower.  It  is  also  said  that  he  took  great  pleasure 
in  listening  to  accounts  of  the  battles  of  Napoleon. 
He  was  presented  to  the  First  Gentleman  in  Europe 
who  gave  him  a  coat  of  mail  and  many  other  presents 
of  considerable  value. 

On  his  return  to  Sydney  he  sold  all  his  presents, 
except  the  suit  of  armour,  for  300  muskets  and  a 
supply  of  gunpowder,  and  then  proceeded  to  ISTew 
Zealand  to  avenge  the  death  of  a  favourite  son-in-law 
who  had  been  killed  during  his  absence  in  a  raid 
upon  the  Thames  tribe.  With  a  thousand  followers, 
many  of  whom  were  armed  with  guns,  he  sailed  for 
the  Thames,  where  the  fortress  of  Totara  soon  fell 
before  him.  Three  hundred  of  the  enemy  were 
eaten  to  celebrate  his  victory.  Then  he  assailed  and 
captured  Matakitaki,  slaughtering  1400  of  the  gar- 
rison. One  portion  of  his  army  marched  south- 
wards in  the  direction  of  Taranaki  and  caused  the 
hasty  flight  of  Rauparaha  from  Kawhia.  The  fame 
of  the  Ngapuhi  and  the  guns  of  Hongi  was  soon  on 
all  men's  lips  and  every  tribe  set  itself  with  feverish 
energy  to  trade  for  guns  and  powder.  In  his  first 
campaign  Hongi  carried  all  before  him,  for  he  pos- 
sessed a  practical  monopoly  of  fire-arms ;  but  before 
his  death  in  1828  this  inequality  had  disappeared. 
In  1826  he  defeated  the  ISTgati-whatua  in  a  great 
battle  at  Kaipara.  His  eldest  son  was  slain  there 
and,  in  the  frenzy  of  his  grief  and  rage,  Hongi  is 
said  to  have  scooped  out  the  eyes  of  several  of  the 
wounded.  The  following  year  saw  him  fighting  at 
Hokianga  against  the  people  of  Wangaroa.  For 


78  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

some  reason  or  other  he  was  not  wearing  King 
George's  armour,  and  a  bullet  from  an  enemy's  gun 
pierced  his  lung.  He  recovered  sufficiently  to  en- 
tertain his  friends  by  letting  the  wind  whistle 
through  the  hole  in  his  back,  and  it  was  not  until 
thirteen  months  afterwards  that  he  succumbed  to  his 
wound.  A  man  of  war,  stained  with  much  blood, 
and  a  barbarian  to  the  last,  it  is  singular  to  find  him 
on  his  deathbed  exhorting  his  tribe  to  protect  the 
missionaries.  White  men,  indeed,  experienced  little 
but  courtesy  at  the  hands  of  the  Maori  Napoleon. 

For  some  time  after  Hongi's  first  campaign  the 
Maoris  had  no  thought  but  for  guns.  To  meet  the 
demand  many  vessels  were  fitted  out  in  Sydney  for 
the  New  Zealand  trade,  which  was  soon  found  to  be 
profitable,  for  a  few  muskets  would  purchase  a  ship- 
load of  flax.  The  government  of  New  South  Wales 
endeavoured  to  exercise  some  control  over  the  trade 
in  fire-arms;  but  little  could  be  done,  and  a  large 
clandestine  trade,  of  which  statistics  take  no  note, 
was  carried  on  by  whalers  and  others.  In  1829  the 
known  exports  from  New  Zealand  amounted  to 
£135,486  and  the  imports  were  valued  at  £30,000. 
So  strong  was  the  commercial  instinct  grown  among 
the  natives  that  they  lent  themselves  readily  to  the 
nefarious  traffic  in  tattooed  heads,  for  which  there 
was  a  small  demand,  chiefly  among  agents  of  mu- 
seums. The  supply  soon  outpaced  the  demand. 
Had  the  demand  been  unlimited,  head-hunting  would 
have  become  a  popular  pastime  and  would  have 
thriven  as  long  as  there  were  heads  on  Maori 
shoulders.  Some  gruesome  tales  are  told  of  the 
trade.  On  one  occasion  a  section  of  the  Ngapuhi 
nation  had  been  defeated  at  Tauranga,  and  the 
heads  of  some  of  the  slain  were  sold  to  the  master 


WARS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  79 

of  a  schooner,  which  afterwards  touched  at  the  Bay 
of  Islands.  Here  a  number  of  natives  came  on 
board  and,  for  their  entertainment,  the  captain 
emptied  a  sack  of  heads  upon  the  deck.  Their  con- 
sternation was  extreme,  for  first  one  and  then  an- 
other recognised  the  head  of  friend  or  relative. 
They  left  the  ship  wailing  and  lamenting;  but  be- 
fore the  dreadful  news  could  be  published  among 
those  on  shore,  the  captain  had  saved  his  neck  by 
a  speedy  flight.  Governor  Darling,  hearing  of  this 
episode,  issued  a  proclamation  against  the  inhuman 
traffic  and  in  1840  it  had  all  but  ceased. 

Increased  commerce  was  not  followed  by  peace; 
it  was,  in  reality,  but  the  prelude  to  a  series  of  still 
more  sanguinary  conflicts,  which  extended  over  a 
period  of  ten  years.  After  Hongi's  death  the 
Ngapuhi  still  continued  their  raids,  under  very  dif- 
ferent conditions,  however,  for  guns  were  now  more 
fairly  distributed.  Pomare  led  a  force  against  the 
Waikatos,  who,  after  a  preliminary  retreat,  made  a 
stand  at  Kopua  and,  with  the  assistance  of  Taraia, 
chief  of  the  Ngatimaru,  almost  annihilated  the  in- 
vading taua.  To  add  to  their  troubles  a  civil  war 
broke  out  at  the  Bay  of  Islands.  Two  girls,  it  said, 
quarrelled  whilst  bathing  and  one  of  them  cursed  the 
hapu  or  tribe  of  the  other.  A  sanguinary  fight  en- 
sued and  only  ceased  when,  remembering  their  kin- 
ship and  the  necessity  for  combination,  some  crafty 
person  proposed  a  descent  upon  Tauranga  in  lieu  of 
exterminating  each  other.  Foiled  in  this  attack, 
they  organised  in  1832  an  expedition  against  Motiti, 
but  after  killing  and  eating  most  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Mercury  Island  and  Tuhua  Island,  the  expedi- 
tion was  almost  exterminated  in  a  naval  engagement. 
Fire-eaters  as  Hongi  had  made  them,  the  !N"gapuhi 


80       PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

had  now  had  enough  of  fighting  and  confined  their 
raids  to  nearer  home. 

The  example  of  Hongi  was  not  lost  upon  men  like 
Rauparaha  and  Te  Whero  Whero.  Rauparaha,  a3 
mentioned  above,  had  fled  from  Kawhia  on  the 
approach  of  the  Ngapuhi  during  their  first  cam- 
paign, and  when  threatened  by  the  Waikatos,  had 
finally  removed  his  headquarters  to  the  island  of 
Kapiti,  in  Cook's  Strait.  After  destroying  pa  after 
pa  from  Taranaki  to  Wanganui  and  beating  off  2000 
of  his  enemies  who  surrounded  his  fortress  with 
war-canoes,  his  mana  or  prestige  rose  so  high  that 
hundreds  of  fugitives  and  free-lances  flocked  to  his 
standard.  Aided  by  these  he  harried  the  shores  of 
Cook's  Strait  and  made  bloody  descents  upon  the 
scattered  settlements  of  the  natives  in  the  South 
Island.  Two  of  his  best  known  exploits  in  that 
direction  were  the  murder  of  Tama-i-hara-nui  and 
the  sack  of  Kaiapoi. 

The  usual  account  of  the  former,  obtained  chiefly 
from  native  sources,  is  as  follows:  Some  of  Tama-i- 
hara-nui's  tribe  had  treacherously  killed  Te  Pehi,  a 
relative  of  Rauparaha,  and  the  chief  swore  to  take 
ample  utu.  He  arranged  with  the  rascally  skipper 
of  a  vessel,  then  lying  at  Kapiti,  to  take  him  and 
eighty  of  his  braves  to  Akaroa.  Although  Stewart 
— for  such  was  the  skipper's  name — was  not  pos- 
sessed of  the  daintiest  of  consciences,  it  is  probable 
that  once  having  received  Rauparaha  on  board,  he 
had  no  alternative  but  to  obey.  When  the  ship  ar- 
rived at  Akaroa  the  Maoris  hid  themselves  below  and 
Stewart  lulled  any  suspicion  the  local  natives  may 
have  felt  by  giving  out  that  he  had  come  to  trade  for 
flax  and  provisions.  Tama-i-hara-nui,  at  that  time 
absent  a  short  day's  journey,  was  easily  persuaded 


WARS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  81 

to  visit  the  vessel.  Accompanied  by  his  wife,  his 
son  and  daughter,  and  several  members  of  his  tribe, 
and  little  suspecting  the  presence  of  his  enemies,  he 
went  on  board  and  entered  the  cabin.  There  he 
found  himself  face  to  face  with  Rauparaha.  The 
son  of  the  murdered  Te  Pahi,  who  was  also  present, 
drew  up  the  upper  lip  of  Tama-i-hara-nui  and  cried : 
"  These  are  the  teeth  which  ate  my  father."  In  a 
moment  the  cabin  and  deck  were  a  shambles,  all 
being  massacred  save  Tama-i-hara-nui  and  his  wife 
and  daughter,  "  who  were  kept  to  grace  the  victor's 
return."  Afterwards  Rauparaha's  men  landed  and 
murdered  every  native  they  could  lay  hands  on. 

On  the  return  voyage  the  warriors  feasted  on  the 
flesh  of  their  slaughtered  enemies.  Tama-i-hara- 
nui,  one  version  of  the  story  relates,  in  order  to  save 
her  from  a  worse  fate,  persuaded  his  daughter,  well 
named  Nga  Roimata  (the  Tears),  to  throw  herself 
into  the  sea,  perhaps  in  the  hope  that  she  might  be 
able  to  swim  ashore.  The  unhappy  girl  was 
drowned,  however.  Another  version  says  that  her 
more  than  Spartan  mother  strangled  her  to  save  her 
from  dishonour.  The  father  sat  manacled  in  the 
cabin,  a  witness  of  these  abominations  and  a  butt  for 
inhuman  jests.  At  Kapiti  he  was  put  to  death  with 
every  refinement  of  cruelty;  but  even  when  the  red- 
hot  ramrod  was  being  thrust  through  his  neck,  he 
chanted,  with  stoic  indifference  to  pain,  a  song  he 
had  "  composed  to  commemorate  his  fate."  Captain 
Stewart  was  tried  in  Sydney  and  acquitted  owing  to 
lack  of  evidence;  but  it  is  with  a  certain  degree  of 
satisfaction  that  one  learns  that  Nemesis,  like  the 
Maori  Wiro,  sat  already  on  the  stern-post  of  his 
canoe;  according  to  Thomson,  he  shortly  afterwards 
dropped  dead  on  the  deck  of  his  vessel  when  round- 


82  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ing  Cape  Horn,  "  and  his  body  reeking  of  rum,  was 
pitched  overboard  by  his  own  crew  with  little  cere- 
mony and  no  regret." 

The  capture  of  the  pa  at  Kaiapoi  (1830)  and  the 
cannibal  orgies  that  followed  completed  the  venge- 
ance of  Rauparaha.  It  does  not  seem  necessary  to 
give  particulars  of  the  gruesome  deed;  more  espe- 
cially as  it  is  necessary  to  describe  the  principal 
episodes  in  the  war  between  the  Waikato  and  the 
Ngatiawa.  The  feud  between  these  two  began  be- 
fore Rauparaha  fled  to  Kapiti,  and  to  understand 
it  clearly  we  shall  have  to  retrace  our  steps  some- 
what. After  their  defeat  of  Pomare,  the  warlike 
spirit  of  the  Waikatos  rose  high,  and  they  began  to 
search  about  for  a  new  foe  on  whom  they  might  with 
safety  test  their  recently  imported  muskets.  An 
opportunity  soon  came.  The  Ngatiawa,  who  had 
quarrelled  with  the  Taranakis,  sent  an  embassy  to 
Te  Whero  Whero  to  implore  his  assistance.  It  was 
readily  granted  and  soon  the  Waikatos  were  in  the 
field  with  a  large  force.  Their  advance  was  a  trium- 
phal progress  punctuated  with  butcheries  and  can- 
nibal feasts.  Pa  after  pa  was  taken,  and  most  of 
the  Taranakis  either  slaughtered  or  enslaved.  A 
small  remnant  found  concealment  in  the  caves  and 
ravines  of  Mount  Egmont  and  in  the  flax  swamps  at 
Waiwiri.  Flushed  and  insolent  with  victory,  the 
Waikatos  now  turned  against  their  allies.  The 
Ngatitoa  and  their  chief,  the  wily  Rauparaha,  were 
bluffed  out  of  their  ancestral  lands;  but  before  tak- 
ing refuge  at  Kapiti  they  remained  for  some  time 
the  welcome  guests  of  kindred  tribes.  Here  Te 
Whero  Whero  fell  upon  them  and  their  friends,  but 
was  unexpectedly  beaten  off.  This  temporary  suc- 
cess did  not  divert  Rauparaha  from  his  intended 


WARS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  83 

retirement  to  Kapiti;  and  so  many  followed  him 
thither  that  the  remaining  Ngatiawa  seemed  an  easy 
prey  for  the  Waikato. 

The  Ngatiawa  had  two  strongholds,  Pukerangiora 
and  Ngamotu.  The  former  was  situated  on  a  ridge 
which  terminated  abruptly  on  the  Waitara  River, 
and  was  not  only  a  strong  position,  but  one  that 
could  easily  be  supplied  with  provisions.  The  river 
abounded  in  mullet,  eels,  and  lampreys;  the  forest 
at  the  rear  swarmed  with  pigeons  and  tuis;  and  in 
the  fertile  fields  adjoining  the  natives  had  large 
crops  of  potatoes,  kumeras,  taros,  calabashes,  and 
melons.  Ngamotu  was  snugly  situated  on  the  coast 
opposite  to  the  curiously  shaped  volcanic  islands 
known  as  the  Sugar  Loaves. 

In  the  early  part  of  1831  a  Waikato  canoe  came 
to  Ngamotu,  ostensibly  to  procure  a  supply  of  dried 
shark,  but  really  to  spy  out  the  land.  Its  crew  over- 
flowed with  friendly  protestations  and  the  more 
guileless  Ngatiawa  opened  their  doors  and  their 
hearts  to  them.  Before  the  end  of  the  year,  how- 
ever, 4000  Waikato  had  surrounded  Pukerangiora! 
For  twelve  days  they  assailed  the  stronghold  in  vain ; 
then  the  garrison,  caught  napping  as  they  had  been, 
and  insufficiently  provided  with  food,  made  a  reck- 
less attempt  to  escape  by  day.  Their  movement  was 
perceived,  and  in  a  trice  the  enemy  was  upon  them. 
Women  threw  their  children  over  the  precipice  and 
leaped  into  the  river  after  them ;  but  few  escaped  to 
tell  the  tale.  That  evening  the  visitors  gorged 
themselves  on  human  flesh  with  such  beastly  vo- 
raciousness that  not  a  few  of  them  died. 

Te  Whero  Whero's  horde  then  directed  their 
march  upon  Ngamotu  and  at  daybreak,  on  a  morning 
in  February  1832,  were  descried  by  the  watchers 


84  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

straggling  in  loose  array  along  the  beach.  The  gar- 
rison consisted  of  eleven  Europeans,  led  by  the  flax- 
trader  Dicky  Barrett,  and  350  Maoris.  The  Euro- 
peans had  mounted  four  carronades,  but  for  shot 
they  had  only  pieces  of  iron  and  stones.  At  the 
approach  of  the  enemy  the  Ngatiawa  hastened  to 
complete  their  preparations:  some  ran  to  fetch  food 
and  water  into  the  pa ;  some  piled  up  sods  round  the 
walls  of  the  whares:  others  manned  the  guns  and 
watched  the  oncoming  of  the  Waikato.  With  true 
Maori  caution  the  enemy  halted  and  signalled  for  a 
parley,  upon  which  a  chief  from  either  side  advanced 
to  meet  each  other.  They  rubbed  noses  and  then 
squatting  on  the  sand,  proceeded  to  business.  The 
Ngatiawa  chief  asked  what  his  people  had  done  to 
provoke  this  attack  and  why  the  Maoris  should 
destroy  each  other  for  the  benefit  of  the  stranger. 
Why,  indeed?  echoed  the  Waikato.  They  were 
wrong,  his  people:  they  should  return  immediately, 
but  first  let  them  into  the  pa  to  embrace  their 
friends!  This  friendly  hint  was  not  taken,  how- 
ever, and  soon  the  Waikato  warriors,  after  dancing 
their  war  dance,  rushed  like  a  pack  of  wolves  upon 
the  pa,  but  were  repulsed  with  loss,  chiefly  by  the 
aid  of  the  carronades.  Next  day  a  ISTgatiawa  chief ; 
in  a  fit  of  valour,  rushed  from  the  pa  and  fired  off 
his  musket  at  the  enemy;  he  was  shot  for  his  pains 
and  the  combatants  fought  savagely  over  his  body. 
Then  several  Waikato  chiefs  came  and  in  the  most 
friendly  manner  invited  the  garrison  to  surrender, 
and  singularly  enough  many  were  inclined  to  accept 
this  invitation,  and  might  have  done  so  but  for  the 
opposition  of  the  Englishmen.  On  the  fourth  day 
of  the  siege  another  parley  was  held.  The  Waikato 
chief  said  he  was  ashamed  of  his  perfidy;  all  that 


WARS  OF  THE  NATIONS.  fft 

was  at  an  end,  however,  he  would  go  immediately. 
But  for  the  protests  of  the  Englishmen  the  Ngatiawa 
would  have  invited  their  wily  enemy  to  a  friendly 
dance.  Two  sisters  quarrelled  on  the  subject  of  the 
good  faith  of  the  Waikato,  and  one  of  them  desiring 
to  show  that  these  good  people  had  been  maligned, 
ventured  out  of  the  pa  and  was  immediately  cut  to 
pieces.  After  that  the  enemy  commenced  a  sap,  but 
this  was  frustrated  by  counter-sapping  on  the  part  of 
the  garrison;  then  they  built  mounds,  from  which 
fire-brands  were  hurled  into  the  pa,  without  doing 
much  damage,  however.  A  diversion  was  created  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Currency  Lass  from  Sydney  with 
supplies  for  the  white  men  at  Ngamotu.  After  a 
fruitless  attempt  made  by  the  Waikato  to  capture 
her,  all  parties  suspended  hostilities  and  traded, 
apparently  in  the  most  amicable  spirit. 

On  the  fight  being  resumed,  one  of  the  carronades 
burst,  an  incident  which  encouraged  the  besiegers  to 
make  a  grand  and  decisive  attack.  At  dawn  next 
day  they  advanced  with  terrific  yells,  and  one  party 
actually  got  into  the  pa,  but  was  annihilated  by  the 
defenders,  who,  inspired  by  the  coolness  and  dogged 
courage  of  the  Englishmen,  fought  like  heroes. 
The  carronades,  worked  with  much  precision,  made 
such  havoc  in  the  ranks  of  the  assailants  that  they 
fled  in  a  panic,  leaving  350  dead  and  wounded  around 
the  pa.  With  shouts  of  victory  the  JSfgatiawa  rushed 
from  their  stronghold,  hacked  the  wounded  to  pieces, 
and  then  made  preparations  for  the  inevitable 
banquet. 

The  Waikato  had  now  had  their  fill  of  fighting 
and  retired  to  their  own  country;  but  the  Ngatiawa 
whose  ranks  were  greatly  thinned,  deeming  discre- 
tion the  better  part  of  valour,  abandoned  their  homes 


86  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

and   joined    their   kinsfolk    at    Otaki,    Wellington, 
Queen  Charlotte  Sound,  and  other  places. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  most  conspicuous  episodes 
in  a  series  of  wars  in  which  nearly  every  tribe  was 
involved,  and  in  which  it  was  calculated  that  20,000 
Maoris  were  slain.  By  1839  there  was  something 
like  peace;  all  were  exhausted,  and  as  every  tribe 
was  now  possessed  of  fire-arms  the  game  of  war  be- 
came too  deadly  to  be  entered  upon  lightly. 


THE  HOUR  BEFORE  THE  DAWN. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

NEW    ZEALAND    BETWEEN    1800    AND    1840. 
THE   HOUR   BEFORE   THE   DAWN. 

CAPTAIN  COOK  had  taken  possession  of  the  North 
and  South  Islands  in  the  name  of  King  George  the 
Third,  and  New  Zealand  was  by  implication  in- 
cluded within  the  vague  limits  of  New  South  Wales, 
but  everybody  seems  to  have  forgotten  or  ignored 
these  points  and  to  have  regarded  New  Zealand  as  a 
No  Man's  Land,  the  Liberty  Hall  of  the  Pacific.  The 
prevalence  of  racial  squabbles  and  of  crime  among 
British  subjects  had  led  to  the  appointment  in  1814 
of  Mr.  Kendall  as  magistrate  at  the  Bay  of  Islands, 
and  in  1817  the  Imperial  Government  passed  an 
Act  in  which  it  was  enacted  that  passengers  or  crews 
of  any  British  ship  charged  with  offences  committed 
in  a  country  not  belonging  to  a  European  nation  or 
to  the  United  States  of  America,  might  be  tried  in 
any  Colonial  port  which  possessed  Admiralty  juris- 
diction. New  Zealand  was  specially  named  in  the 
statute.  By  an  Act  passed  in  1823  the  Courts  of 
New  South  Wales  were  authorized  to  exercise  juris- 
diction over  British  subjects  in  New  Zealand.  In 
a  few  cases  offenders  were  brought  to  justice,  but 
Sydney  was  so  remote  and  the  authorities  knew  so 
little  of  what  was  actually  passing  in  the  islands 
that  when,  as  in  the  case  of  Stewart,  they  did  lay 
their  hands  on  a  law-breaker,  the  difficulty  of  pro- 


88        PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

curing  evidence  rendered  acquittal  almost  a  foregone 
conclusion. 

In  the  first  of  these  Acts  Great  Britain  expressly 
disclaimed  any  desire  to  extend  British  Sovereignty 
to  New  Zealand.  Although  colonising  schemes 
were  in  the  air,  the  Duke  of  Wellington  when  he  said 
that  England  had  colonies  enough,  was  probably 
voicing  the  opinion  of  most  practical  politicians. 
New  Zealand  was  often  mentioned  as  an  ideal  place 
for  a  colony;  but  the  general  public  was  frightened 
by  tales  of  Maori  cruelty  and  cannibalism,  and  the 
Colonial  office  took  its  cue  from  the  missionaries 
who  for  many  years  persistently  opposed  every 
scheme  for  colonisation  or  annexation.  They  feared 
the  influence  upon  the  natives  of  the  vices  of  the 
white  men,  and  although  not  free  themselves  from 
the  imputation  of  land-sharking,  they  laboured  zeal- 
ously to  preserve  the  country  "  from  the  intrigues 
of  designing  men."  There  was  something  of  the 
dog-in-the-manger  attitude  about  them.  Many  of 
them  wished  to  keep  New  Zealand  for  the  Maoris 
and  themselves:  in  other  words,  to  make  it  a  close 
preserve  from  which  all  influences  should  be  ex- 
cluded except  their  own.  The  historian  must  give 
them  full  credit  for  zeal,  devotion,  and  singular 
courage  as  well  as  for  the  civilising  work  they  un- 
doubtedly performed,  but,  he  is  often  tempted  to  wish 
that  in  New  Zealand  and  in  other  portions  of  the 
Empire,  missionaries  had  cultivated  a  little  more 
worldly  wisdom  and  a  little  less  uncritical  enthu- 
siasm. Statesmen  have  found  to  their  cost  that  the 
advice  of  Exeter  Hall,  no  matter  how  well  meant, 
is  often  far  from  being  a  sound  basis  for  Imperial 
policy. 

The  opposition  of  the  missionaries  to  settlement 


THE  HOUR  BEFORE  THE  DAWN.  89 

in  New  Zealand  was  considerably  modified  as  time 
went  on.  In  the  first  place,  it  became  every  year 
clearer  that  it  was  impossible  to  exclude  settlers  and 
that  it  was  difficult  to  control  their  relations  with 
the  natives  without  legalising  settlement ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  an  apprehension  arose  in  the  thirties 
that  France  was  contemplating  the  establishment  of 
a  Colony  in  New  Zealand.  There  were  good 
grounds  for  this  apprehension.  French  war-ships 
voyaging  in  the  Pacific  nearly  always  put  in  at  a 
New  Zealand  port,  especially  at  Akaroa,  the  beauti- 
ful inlet  in  Banks'  Peninsula  where  Rauparaha  kid- 
napped Tama-i-hara-nui.  At  the  time  of  the  raid 
there  were  already  the  beginnings  of  a  French  set- 
tlement at  Akaroa.  It  was  the  resort  of  whalers 
and  sealers  belonging  to  that  nation,  and  still  bears 
marks  of  its  origin.  Some  years  afterwards  Lang- 
lois  the  captain  of  a  French  whaler  gave  out  that  he 
had  purchased  300,000  acres  at  Banks'  Peninsula, 
and  as  a  result  of  his  representations  the  "•  Nanto- 
Bordelaise "  Company  was  formed  to  establish  a 
colony  at  Akaroa.  What  became  of  the  scheme  will 
be  related  in  another  chapter.  In  1827  Captain 
D'Urville,  a  French  naval  officer,  had  spent  some 
time  making  surveys  of  the  coast  of  the  Middle 
Island,  and  in  1831  the  warship  La  Favorite  an- 
chored in  the  Bay  of  Islands,  with  the  intention,  it 
was  currently  reported,  of  taking  possession  of  New 
Zealand.  The  project  came  to  nothing,  but  it 
caused  some  stir  among  the  natives  and  missionaries. 
The  Maoris  still  remembered  their  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  the  "tribe  of  Marion,"  and  their  ap- 
prehensions were  cultivated  by  their  missionary 
friends.  After  the  visit  of  La  Favorite  thirteen 
chiefs  of  the  Ngapuhi  petitioned  William  the  Fourth 


00  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

to  protect  them  from  the  "  tribe  of  Marion  "  and 
also  to  prevent  strangers  from  despoiling  them  of 
their  lands.  Thereupon  the  Imperial  Government, 
acting  on  the  suggestion  of  the  Governor  of  New 
South  Wales,  sanctioned  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
James  Busby  as  British  Resident  at  the  Bay  of 
Islands.  His  instructions  were  to  endeavour  to 
prevent  outrages,  to  protect  white  man  and  Maori, 
and  to  obtain  influence  over  the  chiefs;  his  power, 
however,  was  so  ridiculously  inadequate  that  the 
Kororarekans  dubbed  him  the  "  man-of-war  without 
guns."  Both  Lord  Goderich,  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  the  Colonies,  and  Governor  Bourke  warned  him 
that  he  had  little  legal  power,  since  the  British 
Government  still  declined  to  regard  New  Zealand  as 
a  dependency.  In  addition  to  salary  of  £500  per 
annum,  he  received  £200  a  year  for  judicious  dis- 
tribution among  the  natives.  He  was  thus  an  agent 
with  little  authority  save  his  own  personal  influence 
and  such  as  might  be  derived  from  the  occasional 
presence  of  a  man-of-war.  He  arrived  in  May 
1833,  and  the  dignity  and  aloofness  of  his  manner 
seem  to  have  greatly  amused  the  roysterers  of  the 
Bay  of  Islands.  A  gentleman  of  his  position  could 
not,  of  course,  be  expected  to  take  an  interest  in  their 
little  gaieties ;  besides,  he  was  soon  occupied  with  an 
ambitious  and  daring  scheme — nothing  less  than  the 
creation  of  a  Parliament  of  native  chiefs  for  the 
government  of  New  Zealand.  As  a  preliminary  to 
the  carrying  out  of  this  benevolent  design,  he  per- 
suaded Governor  Bourke,  his  immediate  superior,  to 
sanction  the  use  of  a  national  flag.  Accordingly 
H.M.S.  Alligator  was  sent  to  the  Bay  of  Islands 
with  various  patterns  of  flags;  and  the  chiefs  there 
assembled,  acting,  it  is  said,  on  the  advice  of  a 


THE  HOUR  BEFORE  THE  DAWN.  QJ 

Yankee  sailor,  chose  a  device  resembling  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  of  America.  This,  slightly  altered,  was 
hoisted  as  the  national  flag  of  New  Zealand,  and  a 
royal  salute  fired  in  its  honour.  The  Secretary  of 
State  gave  his  solemn  approval  to  these  proceedings 
and  the  Admiralty  ordered  its  officers  to  respect  the 
Maori  ensign. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  guns  of  the  Alligator  were 
employed  in  very  different  work.  In  April  1834 
a  bark  commanded  by  Captain  J.  Guard,  an  ex- 
convict,  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Taranaki.  The 
crew  escaped  and  for  a  time  lived  as  the  guests  of 
the  Maoris  in  that  district.  A  quarrel  having 
arisen,  however,  twelve  of  the  sailors  were  killed, 
and  Guard  and  his  wife,  with  their  two  children, 
and  ten  sailors  were  seized  as  prisoners;  Guard  and 
some  of  the  sailors  being  afterwards  liberated  on 
condition  of  their  returning  with  a  supply  of  powder 
with  which  to  ransom  the  others.  Thereupon  the 
Government  of  New  South  Wales  despatched  the 
Alligator  with  some  soldiers  on  board,  to  effect  the 
rescue  of  the  prisoners.  On  the  arrival  of  the  man- 
of-war  the  captive  sailors  were  immediately  released 
and  the  Maoris  were  given  to  understand  that  a 
ransom  would  be  paid  as  soon  as  the  woman  and 
children  should  be  handed  over.  The  soldiers  hav- 
ing been  landed,  two  unarmed  natives  advanced  to 
meet  them.  One  of  them,  a  chief,  informed  Guard 
that  his  wife  and  children  were  well,  and  that  they 
would  be  surrendered  on  the  payment  of  the  ransom. 
Owing  to  some  misunderstanding,  which  none  of  the 
accounts  explain,  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  boat, 
seized  the  friendly  native,  hustled  him  into  the  boat, 
and  stabbed  him  with  a  bayonet.  Afterwards  when 
Mrs.  Guard  and  one  of  her  children  were  sur- 


92  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

rendered,  the  wounded  chief  was  released.  Then  a 
chief  who  had  fed  the  other  child  and  tended  it  care- 
fully, offered  to  take  it  on  board  the  Alligator,  in 
order  to  secure  the  promised  ransom.  When  in- 
formed that  none  would  be  paid,  he  turned  back,  but 
had  gone  but  a  few  yards  before  he  was  shot,  "  and 
the  infant  was  taken  from  the  agonising  grasp  of  the 
dying  man,  to  whom  it  clung  as  to  a  friend.  The 
dead  man's  head  was  then  cut  off,  and  kicked  about 
the  sand ! "  Not  content  with  this  inexplicable 
brutality,  the  ship's  guns  opened  fire,  destroying  two 
villages  and  killing  many  of  the  natives.  That 
British  officers  could  be  guilty  of  such  atrocious 
deeds  is  almost  incredible,  and  makes  one  inclined 
to  suspect  that  some  of  the  facts  have  not  come  to 
light;  yet  a  Select  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  appointed  to  investigate  the  occurrence, 
found  no  palliating  circumstances  and  expressed 
strong  disapprobation  of  the  conduct  of  all  the  white 
men  concerned. 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  Mr.  Busby's  authority 
was  but  a  shadow.  The  Government  of  New  South 
Wales  pressed  upon  the  Home  Authorities  the 
necessity  of  supporting  him  with  troops.  It  was 
evident  that  something  must  be  done,  but  the  dis- 
reputable proceedings  of  the  Alligator  pointed  to 
some  other  solution  of  the  difficulty  than  that  of 
increasing  Mr.  Busby's  authority.  The  appearance 
of  Baron  de  Thierry  upon  the  scene  and  the  arrival 
of  a  French  Roman  Catholic  bishop  broke  down  the 
opposition  of  the  missionaries  and  brought  annexa- 
tion within  measurable  distance. 

The  aspirations  of  Baron  de  Thierry  form  an 
amusing  chapter  in  New  Zealand  history.  The  son 
of  a  French  emigrant  residing  in  England,  De 


THE  HOUR  BEFORE  THE  DAWN.  93 

Thierry  bad  early  been  attracted  by  New  Zealand  as 
a  field  for  tbe  exercise  of  bis  visionary  ambitions. 
In  1820  he  met  Hongi  at  Cambridge  and  gave  Mr. 
Kendall  "  £1000  worth  of  goods  "  to  purchase  the 
whole  of  the  North  Island  north  of  the  present  site 
of  Auckland.  The  thousand  pounds  worth  of  goods 
consisted  of  thirty-six  axes  with  which  Mr.  Kendall 
was  reputed  to  have  purchased  40,000  acres.  This 
magnificent  estate  remained  for  long  unclaimed  by 
its  eccentric  purchaser,  but  in  1835  the  British 
Resident  received  a  letter  in  which  the  Baron  ex- 
pressed his  intention  of  establishing  a  sovereignty  in 
New  Zealand.  In  other  communications  he  ex- 
plained at  length  the  nature  of  the  government  he 
intended  to  set  up,  and  invited  some  of  the  mis- 
sionaries to  act  as  magistrates  in  his  kingdom. 

His  pretensions  might  have  been  lightly  regarded 
but  for  the  well  grounded  suspicion  that  his  scheme 
had  received  some  countenance  in  France.  Busby, 
at  any  rate,  was  alarmed  and  hastened  forward  his 
equally  visionary  scheme  for  creating  a  Parliament 
of  Maori  chiefs.  In  1835  thirty-five  chiefs  calling 
themselves  the  "  United  Tribes  of  New  Zealand " 
proclaimed  their  independence,  and  petitioned  the 
King  of  England  .to  be  patron  and  protector  of  their 
confederacy.  An  elaborate  constitution  drafted  by 
the  indefatigable  Busby  was  discussed  and  adopted 
by  the  chiefs.  Absurdity  and  lack  of  humour  were 
apparent  in  every  line  of  it.  All  sovereign  power 
was  to  reside  in  the  hereditary  chiefs  in  Parliament 
assembled,  although  tribal  wars  were  still  raging 
from  Cook's  Strait  to  Coromandel;  justice  was  to 
be  administered  by  European  and  native  judges,  and 
English  and  native  laws  were  to  be  amalgamated — 
in  what  way  is  not  stated;  and  an  armed  force  of 


94  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Europeans  and  natives  was  to  keep  the  peace  and 
exact  obedience.  Sir  George  Gipps  consigned  the 
whole  thing  to  oblivion  with  the  remark  that  it  was 
"  a  silly  and  unauthorised  act,  a  paper  pellet  fired 
off  at  Baron  de  Thierry." 

The  latter  gentleman,  after  announcing  himself 
at  Sydney,  arrived  at  Hokianga  in  1838,  with 
ninety-three  followers,  mostly  vagrants  whom  he 
had  picked  up  in  Sydney.  He  began  his  reign  with 
becoming  state.  A  silken  flag  was  hoisted,  and 
among  other  rules  of  court  etiquette,  was  one  re- 
quiring his  subjects  to  back  out  of  his  presence. 
The  natives,  however,  made  difficulties.  They  said 
the  thirty-six  axes  were  only  a  deposit  and  would 
only  acknowledge  him  the  owner  of  some  300  acres. 
His  funds  soon  came  to  an  end  and  his  retinue  slunk 
over  the  hills  to  Kororareka,  leaving  their  quondam 
king  and  his  family  in  a  state  of  extreme  poverty. 
In  1864  his  adventurous  career  came  to  an  end  in 
Auckland,  where  he  had  been  making  a  scanty  living 
as  a  teacher  of  music. 

During  the  same  year  in  which  Thierry  unfurled 
his  flag,  Pompallier,  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop 
previously  referred  to,  arrived  from  France  at 
Hokianga.  News  of  his  appointment  by  the  Pope 
had  been  received  in  New  Zealand  two  vears  earlier, 
and  contributed,  probably  more  than  Thierry's  pro- 
posed descent,  to  convince  the  Protestant  missionaries 
of  the  desirability  of  getting  the  islands  placed  under 
British  protection.  The  Government,  however,  ad- 
ministered a  snub  to  those  of  them  who  joined  in  a 
petition  to  that  effect  addressed  to  William  the 
Fourth.  Yet  to  many  observant  persons,  both  in 
England  and  Australia,  it  was  apparent  that  annexa- 
tion could  not  long  be  postponed.  It  was  to  this 


THE  HOUR  BEFORE  THE  DAWN.  95 

conviction  that  the  "  land-sharking  "  mania  was  due. 
Adventurers  rushed  to  New  Zealand  as  to  a  gold 
mine.  When  Hobson  arrived  in  1840,  almost  half 
the  entire  country  was  claimed  as  having  been  pur- 
chased. The  methods  of  the  land-sharks  showed  a 
delightful  combination  of  bluff  and  ingenuity. 
When  the  mania  was  at  its  height,  a  lawyer's  clerk 
leaving  blank  spaces  for  names  of  places  and  per- 
sons, and  sailing  along  the  coast  of  New  Zealand 
disposed  of  the  lot  at  five  guineas  per  deed.  The 
result  was  a  chaos  of  land  claims.  The  natives, 
ignorant  of  titles,  often  knew  nothing  of  lands  al- 
leged to  have  been  sold ;  in  many  cases  the  same  land 
was  claimed  by  several  individuals;  boundaries 
were  entered  after  signatures;  in  some  cases  chiefs 
had  sold  land  over  which  they  had  no  rights  what- 
ever; and  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Island  was  said 
to  have  been  purchased  from  a  few  natives  who  had 
come  to  Sydney  as  sailors.  This  rush  for  land, 
though  it  led  to  long  and  bitter  litigation,  marks  the 
end  of  anarchy  in  New  Zealand.  It  was  the 
darkest  hour  before  the  dawn. 


PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND, 


CHAPTER  X. 

SYSTEMATIC   COLONISATION. 

HITHERTO  we  have  been  dealing  with  sporadic  and 
unauthorised  settlement,  with  adventurers  who 
camped  wherever  there  were  seals  or  whales  to  be 
caught,  or  Kauri  pines  to  be  felled  for  masts  and 
spars,  or  wherever  the  Maoris  were  willing  to  trade. 
In  1825  the  first  scheme  for  the  colonisation  of  New 
Zealand  was  initiated.  A  Company  of  influential 
persons,  including  Lord  Durham,  was  formed,  and, 
as  a  result  of  its  efforts,  sixty  settlers  embarked  for 
the  Hokianga  River,  where  the  Company's  agent, 
Captain  Herd,  had  purchased  a  block  of  land. 
When  the  emigrants  arrived,  they  found  that  war 
was  raging  between  the  Hokianga  natives  and  those 
of  the  Bay  of  Islands,  and  the  sight  of  a  war  dance 
completed  their  dismay.  Most  of  them  left  the 
country  at  the  earliest  opportunity,  and  £20,000  was 
thus  spent  in  vain. 

But  colonisation  was  in  the  air :  it  was,  in  fact,  a 
necessity  of  the  times.  For  years  after  1815,  Eng- 
land felt  the  effects  of  her  long  struggle  with  Na- 
poleon, and  there  was  much  distress  among  the 
masses.  The  rise  of  manufactures  and  the  conse- 
quent increase  of  commerce,  had,  indeed,  by  1830, 
produced  some  improvement  in  the  condition  of 
artisans  in  towns;  but  the  labouring  class  in  the 
counties  was,  if  possible,  in  a  more  abject  state  of 
poverty  than  at  the  close  of  the  war.  The  artisans, 


SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION.  97 

although  in  the  mass  they  may  have  been  better  off, 
were  not  able  to  adapt  themselves  readily  to  the  new 
conditions  brought  about  by  the  introduction  of 
machinery.  Many  of  them  were  still  in  sympathy 
with  the  Luddite  movement,  and  ascribed  all  their 
miseries  to  the  machines  that  were,  in  truth,  revolu- 
tionising industrial  England.  The  year  1830  was 
one  of  gloom  and  depression.  The  Royal  speech  at 
the  opening  of  Parliament  in  that  year  drew  special 
attention  to  the  distress  that  prevailed,  and  Lord 
Stanhope  moved  an  amendment,  stating  that  agricul- 
ture, trade,  commerce,  and  manufactures  had  never 
before  been  in  so  disastrous  a  condition.  Various 
remedies  were  suggested,  such  as  retrenchment  in 
the  Civil  Service,  i  eduction  in  the  expenditure  for 
army  and  navy,  reform  in  taxation,  Parliamentary 
reform.  The  Reform  Bill  was  soon  to  become  law, 
but  practical  men  knew  that  its  influence  upon  the 
condition  of  the  industrial  classes  could  only  be 
gradual  and  indirect. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  certain  political  and 
social  theorists  brought  into  prominence  the  idea  of 
systematic  colonisation.  A  great  many  distin- 
guished men  were  associated  with  the  movement,  but 
to  Edward  Gibbon  Wakefield  must  be  given  the 
credit  of  originating  the  scheme,  elaborating  its 
details,  and  getting  it  applied  in  a  more  or  less  modi- 
fied form,  in  South  Australia  and  various  parts  of 
IsTew  Zealand.  He  was  a  man  of  remarkable  origi- 
nality and  vigour  of  thought;  his  mind  was  logical, 
persistent,  and  fertile  in  resources.  Even  his  op- 
ponents admitted  his  ability;  but  his  best  friends 
were  constrained  to  regret  his  ineradicable  love  of 
intrigue  and  deception.  Of  two  ways  of  reaching 
the  same  object,  Wakefield  nearly  always  preferred 


98  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  more  tortuous.  But  whilst  taking  note  of  such 
blemishes  of  character,  one  must  not  allow  oneself 
to  be  beguiled  into  condemning  the  system  merely 
because  the  man  and  his  methods  are  open  to  objec- 
tion. 

As  early  as  1826  Wakefield  had  given  evidence  be- 
fore a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons 
appointed  to  investigate  emigration  and  colonisation 
as  possible  remedies  for  the  distress  of  English 
labourers,  and  its  report  was  strongly  influenced  by 
his  opinions.  It  pointed  out  the  evils  that  flowed 
from  haphazard  emigration,  and  recommended  an 
emigration  regulated  by  local  authorities.  In  the 
opinion  of  the  Committee  food  must  precede  emigra- 
tion :  in  other  words,  capital  and  labour  must  be 
joined  in  due  proportion.  Wakefield's  hand  is  also 
seen  in  the  Instructions  issued  in  1831  by  Lord 
Goderich  as  to  the  disposal  of  Colonial  Crown  lands, 
which,  in  Australia  and  elsewhere,  had  often  been 
flung  away  with  reckless  improvidence;  and  his 
theories  were  the  watchword  of  the  reformers  who 
in  1830  had  formed  the  Colonisation  Society.  The 
essence  of  Wakefield's  scheme  as  set  forth  in  his 
View  of  the  Art  of  Colonisation,  and  in  numerous 
pamphlets  and  articles,  frequently  fathered  by 
others,  was  to  "  substitute  systematic  colonisation  for 
mere  emigration."  The  realisation  of  this  object 
involved  the  judicious  regulation  of  the  price  of 
Colonial  lands  as  well  as  the  regulation  of  the 
labour  supply.  Hitherto  Crown  lands  had  been 
alienated  at  so  low  a  figure  that  the  immigrant  of 
the  labouring  class  was  easily  and  quickly  trans- 
formed into  a  land-owner.  The  result  had  always 
been  a  dearth  of  reasonably  cheap  labour.  To 
remedy  these  evils  Wakefield  advocated  that  land 


.SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION.  99 

should  no  longer  be  given  away,  but  sold  at  a  "  suf- 
ficient "  price,  and  that  part  of  the  proceeds  of  land- 
sales  should  be  devoted  to  assisting  the  emigration 
of  labourers  of  the  class  most  needed.  The  price 
would  depend  on  circumstances,  but  should  be  uni- 
form at  the  same  time  and  place;  and  emigration 
should  be  carefully  adjusted  to  meet  the  wants  of 
the  new  settlement,  for  unrestricted  emigration  had 
in  recent  years  been  attended  by  many  evils,  hun- 
dreds and  even  thousands  of  people  being  landed 
yearly  in  both  Canada  and  Australia  in  a  destitute 
condition  and  without  experience  of  the  trades  most 
required  in  a  new  country. 

The  part  of  the  scheme  that  appealed  most  to 
practical  men  was  the  suggestion  for  aiding  poorer 
persons  to  emigrate.  But  Wakefield's  Colonial 
theories  included  more  than  this  or  a  "  sufficient " 
price  for  land.  His  final  aim  was  to  transplant  a 
section  of  "  English  society  in  its  various  gradations 
in  due  proportions,  carrying  with,  them  the  laws, 
customs,  associations,  habits,  manners,  everything  in 
England  but  the  soil  and  the  climate :"  a  dream  that 
seemed  on  the  point  of  realisation  in  the  Canterbury 
settlement.  It  was  bound  to  fail,  however,  for  it 
ignored  conditions  inevitable  in  every  colony.  To 
bring  feudal  and  aristocratic  notions  of  society  into 
the  "  bush,"  to  use  an  expressive  Australian  word, 
is  about  as  ridiculous  as  to  encase  a  Rhodesian 
trooper  in  a  suit  of  mediaeval  armour.  And  yet 
the  fallacy  of  regarding  colonial  society  from  a 
purely  English  point  of  view  is  one  that  persists 
even  to  this  day.  The  Englishman  in  a  new 
country,  it  is  true,  does  surround  himself  with  as 
many  adjuncts  of  his  old  home  as  he  can,  but  for 
all  that  he  undergoes  many  subtle  and  curious 


100  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

changes.  He  is  inevitably  divested  of  mannerism, 
habits,  and  ways  of  thought  which  in  England  ap- 
peared as  essential  as  meat  and  drink,  but  which 
slip  away  from  him  the  moment  he  is  brought  face 
to  face  with  the  realities  of  pioneering.  All  the 
unessential  things  go  by  the  board  and  he  fights  un- 
hampered by  the  more  or  less  decorative  weapons 
which  it  pleased  him  to  wear  in  the  old  land.  If 
Wakefield  could  have  carried  out  his  idea  under 
absolutely  favourable  conditions,  if  he  could  have 
transported  to  New  Zealand  the  entire  population  of 
an  English  county,  in  twenty-five  years  he  would 
have  found  them  changed  almost  beyond  recognition. 
The  peer,  without  stain  to  his  rank  as  gentleman, 
might  be  found  "  punching "  bullocks ;  the  bishop 
might  be  seen  touring  the  wilds  on  foot,  swimming 
rivers,  sleeping  in  vermin-haunted  pas,  and  though 
in  rags,  clothed  about  with  a  better  and  manlier  dig- 
nity; the  squire  might  be  a  successful  sheep  farmer 
or  be  seen,  in  shirt  sleeves,  smoking  his  pipe  over 
the  counter  of  a  country  store ;  and  strangest  change 
of  all,  Farmer  Hodge  and  his  man  might  be  owners 
of  broad  estates  or  might  have  fought  their  way  to 
the  forefront  of  local  politics.  Colonies  are  indeed 
mints  wherein  the  old  coins  are  melted,  amalga- 
mated, and  fashioned  into  a  new  currency — the 
Empire  currency.  The  process  is  inevitable,  and  if 
we  look  at  it  broadly,  not  in  any  way  to  be  regretted. 
The  Empire  of  to-day  is  an  infinite  variety  in  unity, 
and  it  is  only  by  the  generous  recognition  of  this 
fact  that  its  permanence  can  be  secured.  But  if 
Wakefield  and  his  followers  failed  to  manufacture 
colonial  Englands,  they  succeeded  in  sending  out  to 
New  Zealand  extremely  good  colonists,  chosen  from 
almost  every  class  of  English  society.  These  throve 


SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION. 

or  failed  and  amalgamated  in  quite  unexpected 
ways;  but  the  original  constituents  of  the  amalgam 
were  the  best  procurable. 

In  1836  Wakefield  said  to  a  Parliamentary  Com- 
mittee, "  We  are  going  to  colonise  New  Zealand, 
I  think,  though  we  are  doing  so  in  a  slovenly  and 
scrambling  and  disgraceful  manner."  He  pointed 
out  that  the  adventurers  who  made  treaties  with  the 
natives  and  obtained  land  for  trinkets  and  muskets, 
would,  in  time,  force  the  Government  to  take  over 
the  country  and  appoint  a  Governor ;  but  he  thought 
as  little  of  this  form  of  colonisation  as  the  mission- 
aries did.  And  yet  the  missionaries  and  he  were 
about  to  enter  upon  a  prolonged  struggle,  and 
in  the  end  we  shall  find  him,  or  rather  tHe 
Company  of  which  he  was  the  leading  spirit, 
purchasing  thousands  of  acres  for  trinkets  and 
muskets.  In  1837  Francis  Baring,  with  Wakefield 
and  other  influential  persons,  founded  the  New  Zea- 
land Association;  and  almost  at  the  same  time  a 
Parliamentary  Committee  inquiring  into  the  condi- 
tion of  aborigines  in  the  Colonies,  commented  upon 
the  "  iniquity  of  ousting  the  natives  from  their 
land,"  special  reference  being  made  to  New  Zealand. 
This  report  was  inspired  by  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  a  powerful  organisation,  which  had  found 
a  willing  instrument  in  the  fatuous  Lord  Glenelg, 
then  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies;  a  man  who 
has  been  well  described  as  a  "  sentimental  doctri- 
naire "  who  painted  Kaffir  and  Maori  as  noble- 
minded  children  of  nature  and  who  "  favoured  a 
reactionary  policy  of  abandoning,  curtailing,  or  dis- 
integrating what  he  conceived  to  be  the  unwieldy 
British  Empire."  And  here  it  may  be  said  that 
Downing  Street  has  never  been  so  nerveless,  vacil- 


102  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

lating,  and  crassly  stupid  as  when  it  was  most 
under  the  influence  of  sentimental  humanitarians. 
When  the  Association  approached  Lord  Glenelg  on 
the  subject  of  colonising  New  Zealand,  he  reluctantly 
offered  to  grant  a  charter,  but  only  on  condition  the 
Association  became  a  Company  trading  for  profit. 
This  it  refused  to  become.  In  the  following  year, 
when  Lord  Durham  and  Wakefield  were  absent  in 
Canada,  Baring  introduced  a  bill  into  Parliament 
"  to  establish  a  provincial  government  of  British 
settlements  in  New  Zealand,  under  the  control  of 
sixteen  commissioners."  This  modification  of  the 
Association's  original  proposals  was  described  by 
Lord  Howick  as  "  monstrous  "  and  the  bill  was  re- 
jected by  a  large  majority.  In  the  meantime 
deputations  had  waited  upon  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton and  Mr.  Dandeson  Coates,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society.  The  Duke  said  Eng- 
land had  colonies  enough  and  that  they  were  expen- 
sive to  govern  and  manage ;  and  Mr.  Coates  promised 
that  he  would  oppose  the  colonisation  of  New  Zea- 
land by  every  means  in  his  power — a  promise  which 
he  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  He  accused  the  members 
of  the  Association  of  being  influenced  by  motives 
of  personal  gain  and  described  the  scheme  as  godless, 
"  destitute  of  any  provision  for  religious  instruction, 
and  under  the  management  of  the  notorious  Edward 
Gibbon  Wakefield."  To  these  combined  forces  of 
Church  and  State  the  Association  succumbed;  but 
only  to  rise  from  its  ashes  as  the  New  Zealand 
Company  of  1839.  The  formation  of  the  Company 
was  an  attempt  to  hold  the  Government  to  its 
promise  to  grant  a  charter  to  a  Company  trading  for 
profit.  But  the  Government  still  made  difficulties, 
and  at  length  the  Company,  in  desperation,  deter- 


SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION.  103 

mined  to  form  settlements  in  New  Zealand  without 
the  permission  or  assistance  of  the  Government. 
They  had  previously  condemned  the  policy  of  allow- 
ing private  individuals  to  enter  int^  treaties  with,  or 
to  purchase  land  from,  savage  races,  but  the  indif- 
ference and  inconsistency  of  the  Colonial  Office  left 
them  no  alternative.  This  time  they  did  not  take 
the  Ministry  into  their  confidence  until  they  had 
actually  crossed  the  Rubicon.  Accordingly  on  the 
12th  of  May  1839,  before  their  plan  was  made  pub- 
lic, the  ship  Tory  having  on  board  Colonel  Wake- 
field,  the  Company's  chief  agent,  Edward  Jerning- 
ham  Wakefield,  a  lad  of  nineteen,  Dr.  Dieffenbach, 
a  reputed  Maori  chief  named  Nayti,  and  others, 
sailed  from  Plymouth  for  New  Zealand.  Colonel 
Wakefield  was  instructed  to  purchase  land  and  to 
make  preparation  for  the  arrival  of  emigrants.  As 
soon  as  the  Tory  was  safely  at  sea,  the  Company 
divulged  the  details  of  its  scheme  and  the  objects  it 
had  in  view;  it  went  so  far,  in  fact,  as  to  announce 
its  intention  of  setting  up  a  voluntary  government  in 
the  proposed  settlement  and  invited  subscribers  to 
sign  what  may  be  called  a  declaration  of  allegiance. 
It  was  as  if  a  thunderbolt  had  fallen  on  Downing 
Street.  Lord  John  Russell  informed  the  directors 
that  their  project  of  forming  a  colony  without  the 
consent  of  the  Crown,  was  illegal,  and  after  a  good 
deal  of  parley  the  directors  admitted  the  error  of 
their  ways  and  placed  themselves  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Government.  But  the  Ministry  was 
effectually  roused  from  its  indifference.  The  action 
of  the  Company  had  forced,  as  it  probably  was  in- 
tended to  do,  the  hands  of  the  Government,  which 
now,  though  with  great  reluctance,  took  measures  for 
"establishing  some  British  authority  in  New  Zea- 


104  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

land."  Accordingly  in  June  1839  Letters  Patent 
were  issued  under  the  Great  Seal  extending  the 
boundaries  of  New  South  Wales  so  as  to  include  any 
part  of  New  Zealand  which  might  be  taken  under 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Queen,  and  Captain  Hobson, 
a  naval  officer,  who  had  visited  New  Zealand  in 
1837,  was  in  August  appointed  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, with  instructions  to  treat  with  the  natives  for 
the  recognition  of  "  Her  Majesty's  Sovereign  author- 
ity over  the  whole  or  any  parts  of  these  islands, 
which  they  may  be  willing  to  place  under  Her  Maj- 
esty's dominion." 

When  the  rival  emissaries  were  on  the  long  voy- 
age to  New  Zealand,  it  was  reported  in  England  that 
a  shipload  of  emigrants  had  left  France  for  Akaroa, 
and  that  a  French  frigate  was  on  the  eve  of  sailing 
for  the  same  place.  These  rumors  gave  much  anx- 
iety to  the  shareholders  of  the  Company;  an 
anxiety  which  was  not  allayed  by  the  discovery  that 
Hobson  had  not  been  ordered  to  proclaim  the 
Queen's  sovereignty  in  New  Zealand.  A  public 
meeting  was  held  in  the  Guildhall,  and  a  petition 
drawn  up  praying  the  Government  to  annex  New 
Zealand;  whereupon  a  Select  Committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  inquire  into  the  subject.  It  was  found 
that  although  Cook  had  taken  possession  of  both 
islands  in  the  name  of  King  George  the  Third,  the 
recognition,  in  1833,  of  the  independence  of  the 
New  Zealanders  as  well  as  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  national  flag,  had  nullified  the  earlier  claims. 
The  glowing  reports  that  were  soon  received  from 
Colonel  Wakefield  tended  to  increase  the  excitement 
and  also  to  give  the  Company  a  very  important 
position  in  the  estimation  of  the  public;  for  it  was 
felt  that  the  bold  action  of  the  Company  had  saved 


SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION.  105 

the  Empire  an  extremely  valuable  possession.  Land 
alleged  to  have  been  purchased  from  the  natives  was 
readily  disposed  of  by  lottery  at  £1  per  acre  in 
allotments  of  101  acres.  Thousands  of  acres  were 
put  up  for  sale  at  a  time  when  the  Company  had 
absolutely  no  title  to  a  square  foot  of  New  Zealand 
territory.  Newspapers  and  periodicals  lent  their 
columns  to  "  boom "  the  attractions  of  the  Com- 
pany's estates,  and  the  directors  described  in  such 
glowing  language  the  method  they  proposed  to  fol- 
low that  the  interest  of  the  public  was  effectually 
secured.  The  result  of  this  clever  and,  it  must  be 
admitted,  somewhat  unscrupulous  "  booming "  was 
that  in  a  few  months  216  first  class  passengers  and 
909  labourers  had  embarked  for  Port  Nicholson, 
where  many  disappointments  and  hardships  were  in 
store  for  them.  The  emigrants,  it  may  be  noted, 
were  mostly  English  and  Scotch. 

On  the  16th  of  August  1839,  the  Tory  had  sighted 
the  west  coast  of  the  Middle  Island.  Passing  east- 
ward through  Cook's  Strait,  she  anchored  in  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound,  the  noble  scenery  of  which  en- 
chanted all  on  board.  Here  Colonel  Wakefield 
made  some  stay,  collecting  information  from  the 
natives  and  the  numerous  whalers  settled  at  Te  Awa- 
Iti  and  other  inlets.  Among  these  latter  was  the 
Dicky  Barrett  who  had  helped  to  beat  off  the  Wai- 
katos  from  Ngamotu.  Hearing  that  Henry  Wil- 
liams was  about  to  visit  Port  Nicholson  with  a  view 
to  persuading  the  natives  not  to  part  with  their 
lands,  Wakefield,  accompanied  by  Barrett  and  a 
trader  named  Smith,  crossed  the  Strait,  and  on  the 
20th  of  September  entered  Port  Nicholson,  at  the 
head  of  which  now  stands  Wellington,  the  present 
capital  of  New  Zealand,  fashioned  "  from  out  the 


106  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

wounded  hill-side."  As  the  ship  beat  up  the  har- 
bour, two  Maori  canoes  were  paddled  alongside,  and 
two  chiefs  came  on  board.  These,  after  being  well 
fed,  expressed  their  delight  at  the  coming  of  the 
white  men  and  their  willingness  to  sell  land.  Speak- 
ing of  missionaries,  they  admitted  that  it  was  a 
good  thing  to  renounce  war  and  cannibalism,  but  de- 
precated incessant  praying,  and  they  further  asserted 
that  they  had  been  told  that  all  white  men  who  were 
not  missionaries  were  devils:  exaggerations  which 
amused  them  and  were  probably  not  displeasing  to 
the  Company's  people,  who  had  suffered  much  at  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Dandeson  Coates  and  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society.  With  the  assistance  of  Dicky 
Barrett,  these  agreeable  chieftains  gave  names  to 
the  more  conspicuous  features  of  the  landscape.  A 
landing  was  made  at  Petone,  where  the  natives  held 
a  tangi  or  weeping  ceremony  in  their  joy  at  meeting 
Barrett's  wife,  a  kinswoman  of  theirs.  Without 
wasting  much  time  on  exploration  of  the  surrounding 
country,  Wakefield  got  together  a  number  of  Maoris 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  to  them  the  object  of 
his  mission.  A  friendly  chieftain  delivered  a  bom- 
bastic harangue  in  which  he  enlarged  on  the  bene- 
fits likely  to  follow  from  the  presence  of  settlers  in 
their  midst,  and  it  was  apparent  that  the  majority 
were  of  his  way  of  thinking.  One  chief,  however, 
protested  eloquently  against  the  sale  of  their  lands. 
"  What  will  you  say,"  he  exclaimed  "  when  many, 
many  white  men  come  here,  and  drive  you  all  away 
into  the  mountains?  How  will  you  feel  when  you 
go  to  the  white  man's  house  or  ship  to  beg  for 
shelter  and  hospitality,  and  he  tells  you  with  his 
eyes  turned  up  to  heavpn,  and  the  name  of  his  God 
in  his  mouth,  to  be  gone,  for  that  your  land  is  paid 


SYSTEMATIC  COLONISATION.  107 

for  ?  "  Probably  few  understood  the  nature  of  the 
transaction  they  were  about  to  enter  into,  but  all 
of  them  coveted  the  goods  that  were  temptingly  dis- 
played on  the  decks  of  the  Tory.  After  the  usual 
amount  of  talk,  boundaries  were  decided  on  and 
entered  on  deeds  prepared  after  the  model  of  similar 
documents  in  use  among  the  missionaries,  and  these 
were  then  signed  or  marked  by  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  chiefs.  Goods  were  then  distributed,  the  New 
Zealand  flag  hoisted,  and  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns 
fired;  after  which  the  natives  celebrated  the  event 
with  a  war  dance,  a  haka,  and  barbaric  feasting. 
Wakefield  then  proceeded  to  Kapiti  to  treat  with 
Esmparaha,  who  after  "  difficult  and  disagreeable  " 
negotiations,  was  prevailed  upon  to  attach  his  sig- 
nature to  a  deed  which  purported  to  hand  over 
"  possessions  extending  from  the  38th  to  the  43rd 
degree  of  latitude  on  the  western  coast  and  from  the 
41st  to  the  43rd  on  the  eastern."  Guns  and  powder 
were  found  to  be  the  most  effective  baits.  Owing  to 
the  rivalry  of  Sydney  speculators  Wakefield  hurried 
on  his  negotiations  and  gave  little  attention  to  the 
value  of  signatures  so  long  as  he  got  them.  The 
arming  of  savages  was  justified  on  the  ground  that 
the  land-sharks  were  using  exactly  the  same  un- 
scrupulous methods.  In  less  than  three  months  deeds 
had  been  signed  alienating  a  territory  as  large  as  Ire- 
land, but  it  was  evident  to  anyone  familiar  with 
native  land  customs  that  the  titles  would  in  the 
future  be  the  source  of  endless  disputes.  The  "  pur- 
chases "  as  well  as  the  means  adopted  of  securing 
them  have  been  and  still  are  subjects  of  controversy. 
Fortunately  the  old  bitter  partisanship  has  ceased  to 
exist  except  in  a  few  irreconcilables ;  and  we  can  now 
read,  without  any  strong  emotion,  unless  it  be  one  of 


108 


PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


amusement,  the  list  of  articles  with  which  the  Com- 
pany's lands  were  bought  or  supposed  to  be  bought. 
They  consisted  of: 


300  red  blankets 

200  muskets 

16  single-barrelled  guns 

8  double-barrelled  guns 

2  tierces  tobacco 

15  cwt  tobacco 

148  iron  pots 

6  cases  soap 

15  fowling  pieces 

81  kegs  gunpowder 

2  casks  ball  cartridges 

1500  flints 

276  shirts 

92  jackets 

92  trousers 

60  red  nightcaps 

300  yards  cotton  duck 

200  yards  calico 

300  yards  check 

480  pocket-handkerchiefs 

72  writing  slates 

600  pencils 

204  looking-glasses 

276  pocket  knives 

204  pairs  scissors 

12  pairs  shoes 


12  hats 

4  kegs  lead  slates 
200  cartouch  boxes 
60  tomahawks 
2  cases  pipes 

10  gross  pipes 
72  spades 

100  steel  axes 

20  axes 

46  adzes 

3200  fish-hooks 

24  bullet  moulds 

6  Ibs  beads 

12  hair  umbrellas 

100  yards  ribbons 

144  Jews'  Harps 

36  razors 

180  dressing  combs 

72  hoes 

2  suits  superfine  clothes 

36  shaving  boxes 

12  shaving  brushes 

12  sticks  sealing  wax 

11  quire  cartridge  paper 

12  flushing  coats 
24  combs 


An  inventory  which  for  variety  and  imaginative 
ingenuity  leaves  little  to  be  desired. 


WAITANGI.  109 


CHAPTER  XL 

WAITANGI. 

IN  the  meantime  Hobson  in  H.M.S.  Druid  had 
arrived  in  Sydney,  where  he  took  the  oaths  of  office 
as  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  Zealand,  and  re- 
ceived his  commission  from  Sir  George  Gipps.  The 
latter  issued  three  proclamations :  one  enlarging  the 
boundaries  of  New  South  Wales;  a  second  announc- 
ing that  the  prescribed  oaths  had  been  administered 
to  Hobson;  and  a  third  setting  forth  the  conditions 
under  which  the  acquisition  of  land  in  New  Zealand 
would  be  regarded  as  valid.  Accompanied  by  a  few 
officials,  Hobson  then  departed  from  Sydney  in  the 
Herald,  and  arrived  at  Kororareka  on  the  29th 
January,  1840.  Here  after  calling  upon  all  Her 
Majesty's  subjects  to  assist  him,  he  proclaimed  the 
extension  of  New  South  Wales  so  as  to  include  New 
Zealand.  Two  other  proclamations,  printed  at  the 
missionary  press  at  Paihia,  announced  (1)  that 
British  subjects  resident  in  the  Colony  would  hence- 
forth be  under  the  Queen's  authority,  (2)  that  no 
titles  to  land  would  be  acknowledged  as  valid  unless 
derived  from  Crown  grants,  (3)  that  buying  land 
direct  from  the  Maoris  would  in  future  be  treated 
as  illegal,  and  (4)  that  such  purchases  already  made 
would  be  investigated  by  a  Commission  appointed 
for  that  purpose.  The  announcement  as  to  land 
laid  the  axe  at  the  root  of  land-sharking  and  stirred 
up  a  hornet's  nest  about  Hobson.  But,  for  the 


HO  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

moment,  a  more  pressing  difficulty  had  to  be  faced. 
The  Lieutenant-Governor  was  instructed  to  estab- 
lish British  sovereignty  over  a  territory  acknowl- 
edged to  belong  to  the  natives,  a  proud  and  warlike 
people,  and  was  precluded  from  using  even  a  show 
of  force — conquest,  indeed,  was  not  to  be  thought  of. 
There  remained  only  the  delicate  operation  of  per- 
suading the  Maoris  to  surrender  their  sovereignty, 
and  until  that  could  be  done  Hobson  would  be  a 
landless  governor,  a  ruler  without  a  square  foot  of 
territory.  The  task  might  well  have  seemed  hope- 
less. Yet  within  a  few  months,  by  the  exercise  of 
tact,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  missionaries, 
it  was  accomplished  in  a  manner  which,  so  far  as 
the  Maoris  were  concerned,  left  little  to  be  desired. 
The  missionaries  were  now  thoroughly  alive  to  the 
necessity  of  annexation  and  used  to  the  full  the  in- 
fluence they  had  acquired  over  the  natives  of  the 
north.  The  French  Roman  Catholic  mission  in- 
trigued, of  course,  in  the  opposite  direction  and  their 
efforts  are  said  to  have  been  seconded  by  dissolute 
beachcombers  and  pakehas. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  1840,  an  assembly  of 
natives  representing  the  Northern  tribes  was  held 
on  the  banks  of  the  Waitangi  (Weeping  Water), 
near  where  the  stream  falls  into  the  northern  side 
of  the  Bay.  It  was  a  beautiful  day  and  a  romantic 
spot.  Tents  had  been  pitched,  a  platform  erected, 
and  flags  planted  about  so  as  to  enclose  a  space  and 
give  brilliancy  to  the  proceedings.  At  noon,  Hobson, 
followed  by  a  staff  of  officers  from  the  Herald,  and 
others,  took  his  seat  on  the  platform,  which  was  sur- 
rounded by  chiefs  and  a  crowd  of  followers.  He 
addressed  the  chiefs,  assuring  them  that  they  could 
rely  on  the  good  faith  of  Her  Majesty's  Government, 


WAITANGI.  HI 

and  then  the  Archdeacon  explained,  clause  by  clause, 
the  proposed  treaty,  which  had  been  prepared  with 
the  assistance  of  Busby.  It  contained  three  provis- 
ions, remarkable  for  their  clearness  and  brevity; 
they  run  as  follows : 

1.  The  Chiefs  of  the  Confederation  of  the  United 
Tribes  of  New  Zealand,  and  the  separate  and  inde- 
pendent chiefs  who  have  not  become  members  of  the 
Confederation,  cede  to  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of 
England,  absolutely  and  without  reservation,  all  the 
rights  and  powers  of  sovereignty  which  the  said  Con- 
federation or  independent  chiefs  respectively  exer- 
cise or  possess,  or  may  be  supposed  to  exercise  or 
possess,  over  their  respective  territories,  as  the  sole 
sovereign  thereof. 

2.  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  England  confirms 
and  guarantees  to  the  chiefs  and  tribes  of  New  Zea- 
land, and  to  the  respective  families  and  individuals 
thereof,   the  full,   exclusive,   and  undisturbed  pos- 
session of  their  lands  and  estates,  forests,  fisheries, 
and  other  properties  which  they  may  collectively  or 
individually  possess,  so  long  as  it  is  their  wish  and 
desire  to  retain  the  same  in  their  possession ;  but  the 
chiefs  of  the  United  Tribes  and  the  individual  chiefs 
yield  to  Her  Majesty  the  exclusive  right  of  pre-emp- 
tion over  such  lands  as  the  proprietors  thereof  may 
be  disposed  to  alienate,  at  such  prices  as  may  be 
agreed  upon  between  the  respective  proprietors  and 
persons   appointed  by  Her  Majesty  to  treat  with 
them  in  that  behalf. 

3.  In    consideration    thereof,    Her    Majesty    the 
Queen  of  England  extends  to  the  natives  of  New 
Zealand  her  Royal  protection,  and  imparts  to  them 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  British  subjects. 

When  the  Treaty  had  been  thoroughly  explained 


112  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

by  Williams,  the  chiefs  were  invited  to  speak.  Some 
twenty  of  them  spoke  in  favour  of  signing,  and  five 
or  six  opposed  it  with  much  vehemence.  One  of  the 
latter,  pointing  tp  Hobson,  exclaimed :  "  Send  that 
man  away.  Do  not  sign  the  paper;  if  you  do  you 
will  be  reduced  to  slavery  and  be  compelled  to  break 
stones  for  the  roads.  Your  land  will  be  taken  from 
you,  and  your  dignity  as  chiefs  will  be  destroyed." 
It  was  suspected  that  this  opposition  was  fomented 
by  the  intrigues  of  the  French  bishop  Pompallier, 
who  was  present  in  canonicals,  and  who  naturally 
was  anxious  to  further  the  schemes  of  his  own  com- 
patriots. The  English  missionaries,  however,  were 
able  to  maintain  their  influence,  and  an  elegant 
speech  from  Waka  Nene,  the  chief  of  the  Ngapuhi, 
decided  the  contest.  On  the  following  day,  after 
twenty-four  hours'  deliberation,  the  chiefs  announced 
their  willingness  to  sign  the  Treaty,  which  forty-six 
of  them  accordingly  did  in  the  presence  of  500  in- 
ferior chiefs. 

The  Treaty  was  then  hawked  all  over  the  North 
Island  by  missionaries  and  Government  agents  and 
was  signed  before  the  end  of  June  by  512  chiefs, 
What  opposition  was  encountered  was  credited  to  the 
machinations  of  the  pakeha,  Maoris  or  to  the  emis- 
saries of  the  New  Zealand  Company.  But  with  the 
exception  of  Te  Heu  Heu  almost  every  chief  of 
standing  gave  his  assent.  This  readiness  to  accept 
the  Treaty  came  as  a  surprise  even  to  the  well  in- 
formed settlers.  Contrary  to  expectation,  the 
Maoris  not  only  appear  to  have  grasped  its  signifi- 
cance, but  to  have  realised  that  the  Treaty  was  the 
sheet-anchor  of  their  rights  as  land-owners.  By 
surrendering  their  sovereignty,  they  had,  as  Nopera 
put  it,  merely  "given  up  the  shadow  whilst  retain- 


WAITANGI. 

ing  the  substance."  The  Colonists,  on  the  other 
hand,  felt  that  in  doing  justice  to  the  Maoris,  the 
Governor  had  neglected  the  claims  of  the  settlers. 
They  were,  indeed,  in  a  far  from  pleasant  predica- 
ment. Their  titles  were  abolished  by  a  scratch  of  the 
pen,  and  no  modus  vivendi  had  as  yet  been  suggested. 
Many  of  them  had  paid  what  at  the  time  was  re- 
garded as  a  fair  price  for  their  lands,  and  now  they 
could  be  ousted  at  a  barbarian's  caprice.  To  many 
of  them  the  native  land  customs  seemed  chaotic  and 
whimsical  to  an  exasperating  degree,  and  it  was 
reasonably  inferred  that  the  Treaty  would  but  sub- 
stitute Maori  chicanery  for  that  of  the  white  specu- 
lator. 

That  there  were  some  grounds  for  this  appre- 
hension may  be  seen  from  the  Pakeha  Maori's  ac- 
count of  the  disputes  that  followed  the  purchase  by 
him  of  a  block  of  land  in  the  early  days.  "  I  really 
cannot  tell  to  the  present  day,"  he  says,  "  who  I 
purchased  the  land  from;  for  there  were  about  fifty 
different  claimants,  every  one  of  whom  assured  me 
that  the  other  forty-nine  were  '  humbugs,'  and  had 
no  right  whatever.  .  .  .  One  man  said  his  an- 
cestors had  killed  off  the  first  owners,  another  de- 
clared his  ancestors  had  driven  off  the  second  party; 
another  man,  who  seemed  to  be  listened  to  with  more 
respect  than  ordinary,  declared  that  his  ancestor  had 
been  the  first  possessor  of  all,  and  had  never  been 
ousted,  and  that  this  ancestor  was  a  huge  lizard,  that 
lived  in  a  cave  on  the  land  many  years  ago — and, 
sure  enough,  there  was  the  cave  to  prove  it.  Besides 
the  principal  claims,  there  were  an  immense  number 
of  secondary  ones — a  sort  of  latent  equities — which 
had  lain  dormant  till  it  was  known  that  the  Pakeha 
had  his  eye  on  the  land.  Some  of  them  seemed  to 

i 


114  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

me,  at  the  time,  odd  enough.  One  man  required  pay- 
ment, because  his  ancestors,  as  he  affirmed,  had  exer- 
cised the  right  of  catching  rats  on  it,  but  which  he 
(the  claimant)  had  never  done,  for  the  best  of  rea- 
sons, i.  e.,  there  were  no  rats  to  catch,  except,  indeed, 
pakeha  rats,  which  were  plentiful  enough;  but  this 
variety  of  rodent  was  not  counted  as  game.  Another 
claimed  because  his  grandfather  had  been  murdered 
on  the  land,  and — as  I  am  a  veracious  Pakeha — 
another  claimed  payment  because  his  grandfather 
had  committed  the  murder !  Then  half  the  country 
claimed  payments  of  various  value,  from  one  fig  of 
tobacco  to  a  musket,  on  account  of  a  certain  wahi 
tapu  or  ancient  burying  ground  which  was  on  the 
land,  and  in  which  almost  every  one  had  relations, 
or  rather  ancestors,  buried,  as  they  could  clearly 
make  out,  in  olden  times,  though  no  one  had  been 
deposited  in  it  for  about  two  hundred  years ;  and  the 
bones  of  the  others  had  been  (as  they  said)  removed 
to  a  torere  in  the  mountains.  ...  It  took  about 
three  months'  negotiations  before  the  purchase  of 
the  land  could  be  made;  and,  indeed,  I  at  one  time 
gave  up  the  idea,  as  I  found  it  quite  impossible  to 
decide  whom  to  pay.  If  I  paid  one  party  the  other 
vowed  I  should  never  have  possession,  and  to  pay  all 
seemed  impossible;  so  at  last  I  let  all  parties  know 
I  had  made  up  my  mind  not  to  have  the  land.  This, 
however,  turned  out  to  be  the  first  step  I  had  made 
in  the  right  direction ;  for  thereupon  all  the  different 
claimants  agreed  among  themselves  to  demand  a  cer- 
tain quantity  of  goods,  and  divide  them  amongst 
themselves  afterwards."  Allowing  for  a  touch  of 
caricature,  this  may  be  taken  as  a  truthful  account 
of  the  difficulties  Maori  "  lawyers  "  made  in  regard 
to  the  purchase  of  land. 


WAITANGI.  115 

The  great  need  of  the  immigrants  was  land,  and 
as  the  Government  had  no  money  and  no  machinery 
for  making  extensive  purchases,  it  was  difficult  to 
see  how  it  could  be  procured  other  than  by  direct 
dealing  with  the  Maoris.  Moreover,  in  so  sparsely 
peopled  a  country  there  were  millions  of  acres  of 
waste  land,  "  not  actually  occupied  and  enjoyed  by 
natives;"  and  yet  in  the  Treaty  no  reference  was 
made  to  these  "  wild  lands."  The  fact  of  the  mat- 
ter is  that  the  Colonial  Office  at  this  time  did  not 
concern  itself  much  about  colonisation.  Hobson  and 
his  estimable  advisers  thought  less  of  smoothing  the 
way  for  the  settler  than  of  saving  the  Maoris  from 
the  clutches  of  the  New  Zealand  Company  and  the 
land-sharks.  There  is  much  to  be  said  for  them; 
but  their  zeal  made  them  forget  that  the  object  of 
their  coming  was  not  merely  to  protect  the  natives 
but  to  colonise  the  country.  The  Treaty  of  Wai- 
tangi  divided  the  English  into  two  hostile  camps.  On 
one  side  were  Hobson,  the  officials,  and  the  mission- 
aries; on  the  other  side  the  powerful  New  Zealand 
Company  and  a  multitude  of  land  claimants.  It  was 
a  league  of  north  against  south ;  of  so-called  philan- 
thropists against  colonisers.  The  mutual  jealousies 
and  suspicion  of  the  two  parties,  their  intrigues  and 
counter-intrigues  are  traceable  in  all  the  State  papers 
dealing  with  New  Zealand  at  this  period ;  and  in  the 
game  of  cross-purposes  there  was  little  compromise 
or  conciliation. 

On  the  21st  of  May,  Hobson  proclaimed  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  Queen  over  the  North  Island  in 
virtue  of  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi,  and  then,  by  a 
separate  proclamation,  over  the  whole  of  New  Zea- 
land. The  Middle  Island  might  have  been  claimed 
by  right  of  discovery,  but  Gipps  chose  to  justify  its 


116  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

annexation  on  the  ground  of  the  land-sharking  pro- 
ceedings of  the  New  Zealand  Company,  the  activity 
of  whose  agents  was  viewed  with  ever-increasing  sus- 
picion in  Sydney  and  at  the  Bay  of  Islands.  In 
January,  1840,  the  Company's  first  immigrants  ar- 
rived in  the  Aurora,  and  before  the  end  of  the  year, 
1200  had  been  landed  at  Britannia,  for  by  that 
name  the  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hutt  River 
was  known.  The  natives  of  the  district  were  friend- 
ly, aiding  the  settlers  to  erect  huts,  and  sup- 
plying them  with  pigs  and  potatoes.  But  finding 
the  position  exposed  to  the  sea,  Wakefield  soon  de- 
cided to  remove  the  settlement  to  Te  Aro,  the  site 
on  which  Wellingon  now  stands  and  which,  was 
then  occupied  by  a  Maori  pa  and  cultivation  fields. 
The  natives  resented  this  intrusion  upon  lands  which 
they  denied  having  sold.  At  first,  however,  they 
merely  protested,  preserving  an  attitude  of  pas- 
sive hostility.  It  was  from  another  quarter  that 
the  settlers  were  attacked.  In  order  to  preserve 
some  sort  of  order,  they  had  established  a  provisional 
government,  and  the  Association  as  it  was  termed, 
had  gone  out  of  its  way  somewhat  to  arrest  the 
master  of  a  trading  ship  for  some  alleged  violation 
of  agreement  with  his  charterer.  This  man  escap- 
ing from  duress,  reported  the  matter  to  Hobson,  who 
regarded  the  arrest  and  the  creation  of  a  provisional 
government  as  acts  of  rebellion.  Gipps  was  equally 
emphatic.  "  According  to  my  opinion,"  he  wrote, 
"  unaided  by  legal  advice,  the  proceedings  of  the 
Association  at  Port  Nicholson  amount  to  high  trea- 
son. They  have  usurped  the  power  of  Her  Majesty 
in  establishing  a  constitution  and  in  appointing 
magistrates."  It  was  clear,  however,  that  this  was 
too  serious  a  view  to  take.  Had  the  Government 


WAITANGI.  117 

already  made  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  law 
in  the  Company's  settlement,  there  might  have  been 
some  justification  of  the  term  "  treason  " ;  but  as  no 
such  provision  had  been  made,  it  seems  unreasonable 
to  abuse  the  Company  for  endeavouring  to  regulate 
its  own  household,  even  assuming  that  it  exceeded  its 
legal  powers. 

Hobson  decided  to  crush  the  presumption  of  the 
Te  Aro  people,  and  in  hot  haste  despatched  Lieu- 
tenant Shortland,  the  Colonial  Secretary,  to  "  dis- 
place all  persons  holding  office  under  the  author- 
ity of  the  usurped  government,"  and  to  "  restore  to 
all  persons  the  possession  of  property  of  which  they 
were  in  possession  when  the  emigrants  arrived,  and 
from  which  they  had  been  forcibly  ejected  by  per- 
sons calling  themselves  magistrates."  Arriving  at 
Port  Nicholson,  Shortland  landed  his  thirty  soldiers 
and  marched  upon  the  settlement  in  battle  array. 
After  this  comic-opera  parade  of  authority,  he  read 
a  proclamation  declaring  the  Association  illegal  and 
calling  upon  all  persons  to  withdraw  from  it. 
Neither  Colonel  Wakefield  nor  the  emigrants  offered 
any  strong  objection  to  these  orders,  though  the  man- 
ner of  enforcing  them  was  little  calculated  to  con- 
ciliate men  who  had  staked  everything  to  acquire 
lands  and  homes  in  New  Zealand.  During  Short- 
land's  visit  a  difficulty  arose  with  the  natives  and 
the  settlers  took  the  precaution  of  arming  them- 
selves. This  aroused  the  ire  of  Shortland.  He  pro- 
hibited the  meeting  of  armed  persons  and  admin- 
istered snubs  all  round.  He  informed  Wakefield 
that  possession  of  land  would  not  be  allowed  without 
investigation,  and  he  treated  the  Maori  land-owners 
with  marked  politeness.  His  method  of  reassuring 
them,  implying,  as  it  did,  absolute  distrust  of  the 


118  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Company,  encouraged  the  Maoris  to  make  difficulties 
which  otherwise  might  not  have  occurred  to  them. 
These  things  coupled  with  the  suspected  hostility  of 
the  missionaries,  rankled  in  the  minds  of  the  set- 
tlers; and  henceforth  there  was  war  to  the  knife  be- 
tween Hobson  and  the  agents  of  the  Company.  The 
former  accused  the  Company  of  being  thieves  and 
gamblers,  and  Colonel  Wakefield  accused  Hobson  of 
interested  motives  in  persistently  belittling  Welling- 
ton. 

In  August,  1840,  Gipps  in  the  face  of  strong  op- 
position, succeeded  in  passing  through  the  New 
South  Wales  Legislative  Council  an  Act  intended 
to  nullify  all  titles  alleged  to  have  been  acquired 
from  the  Maoris.  The  Act  was  set  aside  by  the 
Imperial  Government  on  the  ground  that  as  it  was 
intended  to  separate  New  Zealand  from  Australia, 
it  would  be  imprudent  to  make  so  important  a 
measure  appear  to  emanate  from  another  Colony. 
Gipps,  however,  although  he  had  consented,  with 
much  reluctance  to  acknowledge  the  purchase  by  the 
Company  of  110,000  acres  at  Port  Nicholson,  abso- 
lutely refused  to  admit  the  validity  of  purchases  said 
to  have  been  made  elsewhere. 

In  the  midst  of  his  struggles  with  the  Company, 
Hobson  had  decided  on  a  new  site  for  a  capital. 
Some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  procuring  a  suf- 
ficient quantity  of  land  at  the  Bay  of  Islands,  and 
Hobson,  acting  on  the  advice  of  Williams,  chose  a 
position  on  the  Waitemata  River,  which  flows  into 
Hauraki  Gulf.  Land  was  easily  obtained  from  the 
natives,  and  on  September  19th,  1840,  the  British' 
flag  was  hoisted  at  Auckland  and  the  Governor  took 
up  his  residence  there  at  the  beginning  of  the  next 
year.  Though  far  from  central,"  the  position  is, 


WAITANGI.  ]  19 

from  a  commercial  point  of  view,  the  finest  in  the 
Colony.  Situated  on  what  is  little  more  than  an 
isthmus,  it  is  accessible  both  from  east  and  west,  it 
has  every  convenience  for  shipping,  and  for  natural 
beauty  it  stands  without  peer  among  New  Zealand 
cities.  This  step  on  the  part  of  Hobson  was  re- 
garded as  a  studied  affront  by  the  Company,  for 
Wellington  was  certainly  the  geographical  capital 
and  it  contained  the  population  and  enterprise  which 
for  some  years  could  not  be  expected  at  Auckland. 
As  in  so  many  other  details  of  the  unhappy  wrangle 
between  Government  and  Company,  both  were  right 
in  certain  respects.  Hobson  is  justified  by  the  fact 
that  Auckland  is  now  the  most  populous  city  in  New 
Zealand,  and  the  Company  is  justified  by  the  fact 
that  Wellington  is  now  the  capital  as  well  as  a  thriv- 
ing commercial  centre. 

Shortly  before  this  a  statute  was  passed  by  the 
Imperial  Government  erecting  New  Zealand  into  a 
separate  colony.  Hobson's  title  was  changed  to  Gov- 
ernor, and  a  Legislative  Council,  consisting  of  the 
Governor  and  six  nominees  of  the  Colonial  Office, 
•was  brought  into  existence.  The  powers  of  the 
Council  were  strictly  limited,  for  no  subject  could 
be  discussed  unless  introduced  by  the  Governor,  and 
all  enactments  were  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies.  The  Executive 
consisted  of  the  Colonial  Secretary,  the  Attorney- 
General,  and  the  Treasurer,  who  also  were  members 
of  the  Legislative  Council.  In  the  Letters  Patent 
issued  proclaiming  New  Zealand  a  separate  Colony, 
new  names  were  given  to  the  islands;  the  North' 
Island  was  called  New  Ulster,  the  Middle  Island, 
New  Munster,  and  Stewart's  Island,  New  Leinster; 


120  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

titles  which  never  emerged  from  the  obscurity  of 
official  documents. 

In  August,  1840,  Hobson's  promptitude  frustrated 
a  projected  French  settlement  at  Akaroa.  As 
previously  related,  Langlois,  a  French  whaling 
skipper,  claimed  to  have  purchased  almost  the  whole 
of  Banks'  Peninsula  for  a  miscellaneous  assortment 
of  articles,  including  a  tambour,  guns,  and  old 
clothes,  and  was  known  to  have  left  France  in  the 
Comte  de  Paris  with  fifty-seven  settlers  whom  he 
intended  to  locate  at  Akaroa.  In  July  the  frigate 
L'Aube  arrived  at  the  Bay  of  Islands,  and  Hobson, 
suspecting  her  object,  despatched  Captain  Owen 
Stanley  in  the  Britomart  to  Akaroa,  with  instruc- 
tions to  anticipate  any  scheme  for  establishing  a 
French  Colony.  The  Queen's  sovereignty  had  al- 
ready been  proclaimed  over  the  Middle  Island,  but 
it  was  certainly  prudent  to  take  measures  to  prevent 
any  complications  that  might  arise  out  of  the  land 
claims  of  a  French  subject.  The  Britomart,  al- 
though delayed  by  storms,  had  been  anchored  two 
days  in  Akaroa  harbour  before  the  L'Aube  made  her 
appearance.  Lavaud,  the  French  captain,  accepted 
the  position  with  a  good  grace.  When  the  Comte  de 
Paris  arrived,  her  passengers,  pending  a  settlement, 
were  allowed  to  land  at  what  is  now  called  French 
Bay.  In  1842  Lord  Stanley  decided  that  French 
claims  to  lands  on  Banks'  Peninsula  should  be  dealt 
with  on  the  "  same  principle  as  if  they  had  been  an 
English  Company."  Although  the  land  claims 
proved  worthless  on  investigation,  the  English  Gov- 
ernment awarded  the  ]STanto-Bordelaise  Company  a 
grant  of  land  limited  to  30.000  acres,  but  before  the 
selection  was  made,  the  New  Zealand  Company 
bought  up  the  property  and  interests  of  the  French 
Company  for  £4,500. 


WAITANGI.  121 

With  slight  interruptions  like  the  French  attempt, 
Hobson  was  almost  entirely  occupied  with  land 
troubles.  Land-sharking  whether  practised  by  com- 
panies or  individuals  had  to  be  put  down,  but  it  was 
not  easy  to  discover  a  principle  of  action  that  would 
be  equitable  to  all  the  different  claimants.  Justice 
had  to  be  done  to  men  who  had  been  long  settled  in 
the  country  and  whose  possessions  were  not  contested 
by  the  Maoris,  as  well  as  to  the  speculators  who 
claimed  millions  of  acres  on  fictitious  titles.  Owing  to 
the  extent  of  its  claims  and  its  activity  in  colonising, 
the  New  Zealand  Company  was  placed  on  a  different 
footing  from  the  individual  claimants.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1841,  three  months  after  Hobson  was  made 
Governor,  it  was  granted  a  charter  "  for  purchasing 
and  acquiring,  settling,  improving,  cultivating,  let- 
ting, selling,  granting,  alienating,  mortgaging, 
charging  or  otherwise  dealing  with  and  making  a 
profit  of  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments  in  our 
said  Colony."  The  capital  of  the  Company  was 
fixed  at  £300,000,  of  which  two-thirds  was  to  be 
paid  up  within  a  year,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  the 
charter.  The  Government  committed  itself  to 
granting  four  acres  of  land  for  every  pound  proved 
to  have  been  spent  in  purchasing  land  and  promoting 
colonisation.  This  concession,  the  result  of  much 
negotiation,  was  obtained  from  Lord  John  Russell, 
who  appointed  an  accountant,  Mr.  Pennington,  to 
examine  into  the  Company's  claims  and  expenditure. 
His  report  showed  that  £249,256  had  been  spent  on 
emigration  and  land  purchase,  and  that,  therefore, 
the  Company  would  be  entitled  to  over  900,000 
acres ;  a  conclusion  which  dismayed  even  Lord  Rus- 
sell himself  and  made  him  regret  that  he  had  not 
paid  more  regard  to  the  vigorous  attempts  of  Sir 


122  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

George  Gipps  to  limit  the  Company's  claims. 
Shortly  afterwards  a  change  of  ministry  occurred, 
and  Lord  Stanley,  the  new  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies,  repudiated  the  proposal  of  his  predecessors, 
and  announced  that  he  had  commissioned  Mr.  Spain 
to  proceed  to  New  Zealand  with  the  object  of  extin- 
guishing all  purely  native  titles.  This  was  a  great 
blow  to  the  Company.  It  had  to  submit,  however, 
with  more  meekness  than  usual,  for  it  had  recently 
been  caught  red-handed  in  a  somewhat  discreditable 
transaction  in  connection  with  the  Chatham  Islands. 
In  1838  a  number  of  Maoris  fleeing  from  the 
vengeance  of  Rauparaha,  found  a  refuge  in  these 
islands,  where  they  killed  or  enslaved  the  original  in- 
habitants. Two  years  later  some  of  these  Maoris  re- 
turned to  Wellington  and  agreed  for  a  consideration 
to  sell  their  conquest  to  Colonel  Wakefield;  and  the 
directors  in  England  endeavoured  to  resell  their  pur- 
chase to  the  Hamburg  Colonisation  Society.  In  the 
course  of  the  negotiations  a  reference  was  made  to 
the  Imperial  Government,  which  thus  got  wind  of 
the  project,  and  the  result  was  a  severe  snubbing 
for  the  Company  and  a  threat  to  deprive  it  of  its 
charter  for  interfering  with  the  royal  prerogative. 

The  first  Legislative  Council,  which  met  in  May, 
1841,  passed  a  Crown  Land  Ordinance,  on  the  model 
of  the  Act  which  Gipps  had  previously  sought  to 
apply  to  New  Zealand.  It  enacted  that  no  title 
would  be  admitted  until  approved  by  the  Govern- 
ment; but  it  also  stipulated  that  the  Commissioners 
might,  if  they  saw  good  reason,  legalise  previous  pur- 
chases. At  the  same  time  Quarter  Sessions  and 
Courts  of  Request  were  established;  and  before  the 
end  of  the  year  Chief  Justice  Martin  and  Attorney- 
General  Swainson  arrived  at  Auckland.  Both  of 


WAITANGI.  123 

these  had  much  influence  in  shaping  the  early  legis- 
lation of  the  Colony. 

In  the  meantime  the  Agents  of  the  Company  pur- 
sued their  course  in  spite  of  snubbings  and  hostile 
legislation.  Late  in  1840  a  number  of  emigrants 
finding  themselves  cooped  up  to  no  purpose  in  Wel- 
lington, migrated  to  the  river  Wanganui,  where  they 
formed  a  settlement  known  then  as  "  Petre."  The 
land  they  proposed  to  take  up  was  included  in  the 
second  of  Wakefield's  so-called  purchases ;  but  as  the 
whole  district  carried  a  large  population  of  Maoris, 
who  were  by  no  means  disposed  to  part  with,  land, 
the  settlers  found  themselves  in  a  precarious  position. 
During  the  same  year  an  Association  had  been 
formed  at  Plymouth  for  forming  a  separate  Colony 
in  N"ew  Zealand.  It  bought  from  the  New  Zealand 
Company  about  60,000  acres,  and  sent  a  surveyor  to 
select  a  suitable  locality  for  the  venture.  Taranaki 
was  chosen  and  a  number  of  emigrants,  attracted  by 
reports  of  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  were  "  dumped 
down "  on  the  surf-beaten  shore  opposite  to  the 
Sugar  Loaves.  The  land  had  been  almost  depopu- 
lated in  the  late  Maori  wars,  but  Hobson  dashed  the 
emigrants'  hope  of  undisputed  possession  by  limiting 
settlement  to  a  small  area  extending  for  ten  miles 
along  the  coast  and  excluding  the  much-coveted  Wai- 
tara  district.  Before  this  the  Plymouth  Association 
had  been  merged  in  the  N"ew  Zealand  Company,  and 
the  latter  now  used  its  great  political  influence  to 
such  effect  that  Hobson  was  compelled  to  increase 
the  allowance  of  110,000  acres  at  Port  Nicholson 
made  by  Gipps  so  as  to  include  an  almost  equal  area 
at  Wanganui  and  Taranaki. 

The  efforts  of  the  Company  did  not  end  with  these 
two  settlements.  In  1841  a  proposal  for  establish- 


124  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ing  a  Colony  on  a  large  scale  was  adopted  by  the  di- 
rectors, who  obtained  permission  to  select  200,000 
acres  in  any  part  of  New  Zealand  which  Hobson 
could  be  induced  to  approve.  At  first  the  Company 
thought  of  Banks'  Peninsula  and  the  Canterbury 
Plains,  but  Hobson  strenuously  opposed  this  sug- 
gestion and  put  forward  the  claims  of  the  Thames 
and  Waipa  districts.  Colonel  Wakefield,  scenting 
a  plot  to  aggrandise  the  north  at  the  expense  of  the 
south,  refused  to  entertain  the  Governor's  proposal, 
and  threatened  to  take  independent  action  "  in  virtue 
of  the  contract  with  the  natives  and  others  made 
antecedently  to  your  arrival  as  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor."  Hobson  yielded  and  Wakefield  thereupon 
selected  Blind  Bay  which,  on  second  consideration, 
seemed  more  suitable  than  Port  Cooper.  The  first 
emigrants  reached  Blind  Bay  in  April,  1841.  On 
their  way  thither  they  had  called  at  Kapiti,  the 
stronghold  of  Rauparaha,  who  exhibited  much  con- 
cern at  the  coming  of  so  many  white  men.  On  ar- 
riving at  their  destination  a  conference  was  held 
with  the  natives,  who,  after  some  debate,  agreed,  for 
the  usual  presents,  to  part  with  a  certain  amount  of 
land,  which  was  immediately  surveyed  and  prepared 
for  allotment  among  the  settlers.  Although  it  was 
soon  discovered  that  the  nature  of  the  country  pre- 
cluded its  subdivision  on  the  chess-board  plan  indi- 
cated by  the  directors  of  the  Company  ija  England, 
the  settlers  had  few  complaints  to  make  of  the  dis- 
trict. The  climate  was  delightful,  free  from  the 
boisterous  winds  that  rage  through  the  Straits;  the 
harbour  was  excellent;  and  the  sunny  valleys,  pro- 
tected by  mountains  from  the  biting  south,  gladdened 
the  heart  of  the  gardener  and  small  farmer.  Cap- 
tain Arthur  Wakefield,  brother  of  the  Colonel,  had 


WAITANGI.  125 

led  the  emigrants  to  this  Land  of  Promise  and  re- 
mained there  as  resident  agent. 

In  the  meantime  at  Wellington,  Wanganui,  and 
Taranaki  the  Company's  people  were  embroiling 
themselves  with  the  natives  and  sowing  the  seeds 
which  they  afterwards  had  to  reap  as  a  whirlwind. 
At  Wellington  the  Maoris  complained  that  the  set- 
tlers interfered  with  their  cultivation  patches,  and 
threatened  to  make  reprisals.  An  English  boy  was 
speared,  for  stealing  the  potatoes  of  the  natives,  it 
was  said.  When  Hobson  visited  the  township  in 
August,  1841,  several  chiefs  claimed  protection 
against  the  Company's  unscrupulous  land-dealings. 
The  two  races,  in  fact,  were  on  the  verge  of  war,  and 
the  Governor's  attitude  embittered  the  white  men 
without  pacifying  the  Maoris.  Then  a  Maori  was 
found  dead  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and  the 
natives,  believing  the  murder  to  be  the  work  of  a 
white  man,  claimed  a  life  in  compensation.  When 
the  incident  was  almost  forgotten,  a  settler  named 
Milne  was  tomahawked  on  the  Petone  road  and  so 
the  feud  grew  bitterer.  The  burning  of  a  native  vil- 
lage was  attributed  to  white  men,  and  in  retaliation 
the  natives  obstructed  further  settlement  by  pulling 
down  huts  erected  on  debatable  ground.  In  these  pro- 
ceedings they  showed  a  singular  chivalry.  They 
warned  Colonel  Wakefield  that  they  would  pull  down 
houses  built  on  lands  they  claimed,  and  in  no  case  did 
they  steal  or  injure  the  intruder's  personal  belong- 
ings. In  the  Hutt  valley  squabbles  were  of  frequent 
occurrence.  At  Wanganui  the  settlers  were  threat- 
ened with  forcible  ejection  if  they  occupied  the  land 
to  which  they  considered  themselves  entitled,  and  in 
a  short  time  were  reduced  to  the  greatest  straits. 
The  ISTew  Plymouth  or  Taranaki  pioneers  were  in 


126  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

equally  bad  case.  Many  of  the  Ngatiawa  carried 
off  into  slavery  by  the  Waikato  had,  owing  to  Chris- 
tianity and  other  causes,  been  manumitted,  and  were 
now  returning  in  hundreds  to  their  ancient  hunting- 
grounds,  portion  of  which  was  occupied  by  white 
settlers,  who  were  ruthlessly  cutting  down  tapued 
trees  for  canoes.  The  returned  fugitives  were  amazed 
and  indignant.  They  at  least  had  not  been  con- 
sulted and  the  land  was  theirs.  Te  Whero  Whero, 
it  is  true,  had  conquered  their  country  and  disposed 
of  his  interest  in  it  to  Hobson  for  £400,  but  they 
failed  to  see  any  force  in  this  argument.  To  put  an 
end  to  the  harassing  disputes  which  were  of  daily 
occurrence,  the  settlers  armed  themselves  and  drove 
off  a  party  of  natives  who  had  begun  to  recultivate 
land  near  the  Waitara.  Force  was  used  on  several 
occasions,  but  there  was  little  actual  fighting,  for 
the  returned  slaves  had  lost  some  of  their  ancient 
spirit,  and  at  first  were  merely  troublesome.  At 
Nelson  a  quarrel  arose  over  the  question  of  coal  and 
lime  which  the  settlers  had  discovered  at  Massacre 
Bay.  The  natives  denied  having  sold  the  land  on 
which  these  minerals  were  found  and  at  night  re- 
placed the  coal  dug  out  during  the  day  by  the  white 
labourers.  A  chief  was  arrested  and  sentenced  to 
pay  a  fine.  He  refused  to  pay,  and  would  have  been 
imprisoned  had  not  his  wife  paid  the  fine  for  him. 
These  successes  elated  the  colonists  and  made  them 
regard  the  Maoris  as  turbulent  bullies  who  would 
collapse  at  the  sight  of  force.  The  superior  settlers, 
unlike  the  whalers  and  pakehas,  were  inclined  to 
treat  the  natives  with  the  contempt  that  had  become 
traditional  in  dealing  with  savage  races.  Later  ex- 
perience, bought  with  much  blood  and  suffering, 
changed  this  contempt  into  respect 


WAITANGI.  127 

Racial  troubles  were  not  confined  to  the  settle- 
ments round  Cook  Straits.  Hobson  also  had  dif- 
ficulties in  the  North.  There,  however,  they  were 
generally  caused  by  ignorance  of  native  customs  or 
by  the  imprudence  or  crimes  of  individual  settlers. 
The  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  from  the 
Bay  of  Islands  to  Auckland  was  the  death-blow  to 
the  importance  of  Kororareka,  and  both  the  native 
and  European  inhabitants  of  the  district  were  loud 
in  their  complaints.  The  application,  guarded 
though  it  was,  of  English  law  to  Maoris,  seemed 
likely  at  one  time  to  produce  excitement  and  dis- 
trust. In  1842  a  Maori  youth  named  Maketu  mur- 
dered, in  a  fit  of  temper,  a  white  man,  who  was  a 
fellow-servant  in  the  same  house.  The  deed  was 
provoked  by  the  harshness  of  the  white  man;  but 
Maketu  in  order,  apparently,  to  cover  up  all  traces 
of  the  crime,  murdered  the  whole  family,  consisting 
of  a  widow  and  three  children,  and,  after  setting  fire 
to  the  house,  proceeded  to  his  father's  village  where 
he  related  what  he  had  done.  His  people  shortly 
afterwards  delivered  him  up  to  the  magistrate.  He 
was  taken  to  Auckland  and  condemned  to  death. 
During  his  trial  the  Court  was  crowded  with  natives, 
and  the  execution  was  witnessed  by  still  greater 
numbers.  They  admitted  the  justice  of  the  sen- 
tence, but  expressed  horror  at  the  cold-blooded  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  carried  out.  Their  own  method 
in  such  cases  was,  indeed,  much  more  humane,  the 
criminal  being  rendered  insensible  by  a  sudden  and 
unexpected  blow  on  the  head  which  relieved  him 
of  life  without  entailing  upon  him  days  and  weeks 
of  mental  suffering.  An  event  which  occurred  in 
the  same  year  seemed  to  afford  the  Governor  a  good 
opportunity  of  dealing  a  blow  at  the  practice  of 


128  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

cannibalism.  Between  a  tribe  in  the  Thames  dis- 
trict and  the  people  of  Tauranga  there  was  a  blood- 
feud  of  long  standing,  and  Taraia,  chief  of  the 
Thames  tribe,  on  receiving  an  insulting  letter  from 
the  people  of  Tauranga,  immediately  organised  a 
war-party,  and  falling  suddenly  upon  the  pa  at 
Tauranga,  completed  the  slaughter  of  his  enemies 
by  a  cannibal  feast.  On  the  return  journey  these 
fine  old  barbarians  desecrated  the  church  in  a  Chris- 
tian settlement  which  they  passed.  One  old  man 
tore  prayer-books  with  his  teeth,  put  out  his  tongue 
at  the  Christian  natives,  and  stretching  wide  his 
arms,  cried  aloud,  "  When  will  Christ  your  God 
come  to  save  those  of  you  who  have  been  cooked  in 
the  oven?  What  is  your  God? — all  lies."  When 
tidings  of  these  doings  reached  Auckland,  it  was  de- 
cided to  despatch  a  body  of  soldiers  to  seize  Taraia, 
but  that  chieftain  being  informed  of  the  Governor's 
intention,  wrote  him  a  letter  in  which  he  pertinently 
asked  what  relation  the  Governor  was  to  the  mur- 
dered men  that  he  should  seek  to  interfere  in  a  na- 
tive quarrel.  He  was  willing  to  make  compensation 
provided  the  Tauranga  natives  compensated  him  also 
for  the  murder  of  his  relations.  Anyhow  an  attempt 
to  arrest  him  would  only  make  matters  worse.  The 
frankness  and  good  sense  of  this  appeal  were  not 
lost  upon  the  Governor  and  his  advisers,  and,  in- 
stead of  soldiers,  a  party  of  missionaries  was  sent  to 
the  Thames. 

On  the  10th  of  September,  1842,  Hobson  died  of 
paralysis,  a  disease  which  overtook  him  shortly  after 
his  arrival  in  New  Zealand.  His  sufferings  had 
been  increased  by  the  anxieties  and  annoyances  of 
his  position;  yet  oppressed  as  he  was  by  the  difficul- 
ties of  establishing  a  government  in  a  barbarous 


WAITANGI.  129 

country,  pursued  by  the  implacable  enmity  of  the 
New  Zealand  Company,  and  smarting  under  the  gad- 
fly attacks  of  an  often  scurrilous  press,  he  stuck 
bravely  to  his  post  until  death  relieved  him.  He 
was  an  honourable  gentleman,  resolute  in  carrying 
out  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty,  yet  wanting  in 
tact  and  in  largeness  of  mind.  To  the  Maoris  he 
was  generous  and  sympathetic,  and  it  was  a  great 
thing  to  have  won  their  confidence.  At  his  death  a 
Maori  chief  wrote  to  the  Queen :  "  Let  not  the  new 
Governor  be  a  boy  or  one  puffed  up.  Let  not  a 
troubler  come  amongst  us.  Let  him  be  a  good  man 
like  the  Governor  who  has  just  died."  To  the  set- 
tlers he  was  less  considerate.  He  came  with  two 
fixed  ideas — to  crush  the  land-sharks  and  to  protect 
the  natives.  He  never  got  away  from  the  letter  of 
his  instructions  and  thereby  rendered  colonisation 
impossible  except  in  defiance  of  him.  The  blame 
was  not  all  his.  He  was  but  the  too  conscientious 
servant  of  masters  in  Downing  Street  who,  in  the 
utter  absence  of  a  vigorous  Imperial  policy,  substi- 
tuted one  makeshift  for  another,  according  as  they 
were  actuated  by  a  blase  unconcern  or  by  gusts  of 
quixotic  sentimentalism. 

At  the  time  of  Hobson's  death  bankruptcy  stared 
the  Government  in  the  face.  The  revenue  was  de- 
rived chiefly  from  customs  dues  and  sales  of  lands; 
but  of  the  £50,000  raised  in  1842  only  £11,000 
came  from  the  sale  of  Crown  Lands.  The  exports 
amounted  to  £18,000  and  the  imports  to  £166,000. 
As  yet  there  were  no  industries  save  whaling  and 
timber  getting:  but  although  most  of  the  settlers 
were  still  living  on  their  capital,  they  were  far  from 
idle.  Sheep,  cattle,  and  horses  were  being  rapidly 
introduced;  pigs  already  abounded,  pork  and  pota- 

J 


130  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

toes  forming  the  chief  articles  of  food  both  among 
Maoris  and  white  men.  When  they  could  forget  the 
miserable  land  question,  the  pioneers  found  life  al- 
most enjoyable.  Kace  meetings  had  already  been 
held  at  the  principal  settlements,  and  balls  and  din- 
ner parties  were  not  uncommon,  the  guests  stum- 
bling, lantern  in  hand,  through  half-cleared  "  bush  " 
or  along  narrow  Maori  paths,  to  the  place  of  meet- 
ing. In  the  daily  life  the  formalities  of  the  old 
world  went  out  of  fashion.  Blue  shirts  were  the 
common  wear.  In  this  free  and  easy  pioneer  life 
disease  and  crime  were  almost  unknown.  The  doc- 
tors who  found  their  way  to  New  Zealand  were  in 
those  days  little  in  demand,  and  were  forced  to  turn 
their  attention  to  more  profitable  ways  of  making 
a  livelihood. 

The  white  population  was  something  over  10,000. 
Wellington  headed  the  list  of  settlements  with  3701 ; 
Auckland  with  2895,  and  Nelson  with  2500  came 
next;  Kororareka,  or  Russell  as  it  was  now  called, 
had  dwindled  down  into  a  mere  hamlet  with  less 
than  400  inhabitants.  Three-fourths  of  the  settlers 
were  thus  located  in  the  Cook's  Straits  settlements. 
These  were  for  the  most  part  the  Company's  people 
and  were  socially  superior  to  those  who  gathered 
around  Hobson  at  Auckland. 


THE  WAIEAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER. 


THE  WAIEAU  MASSACBE  AND  AFTER, 

ON  Hobson's  death  Lieutenant  Shortland  became 
Acting-Governor,  a  position  which,  in  those  days  of 
slow-travelling  news,  he  was  obliged  to  hold  for  more 
than  a  year.  It  was  no  sinecure.  Even  had  Short- 
land's  ability  been  equal  to  his  vanity,  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  avoid  the  innumerable  pitfalls  which 
lay  in  his  path.  At  the  very  outset  of  his  rule,  he 
was  saved  from  blundering  into  a  Maori  war  only 
by  the  strenuous  protests  of  Selwyn  and  Martin,  and 
also,  it  must  be  added,  by  the  Attorney-General's 
skilful  misreading  of  the  law.  The  occasion  was 
this:  A  Maketu  chief,  named  Tangaroa,  had  al- 
lowed his  crew  to  eat  sacred  potatoes  growing  on  the 
graves  of  those  Tauranga  people  whom  Taraia  had 
slain.  Tangaroa's  vessel  was  captured  and  one  of 
his  relations  killed  as  a  punishment  for  this  violation 
of  tapu.  The  chief  himself,  with  the  remainder  of 
the  crew,  escaped  in  a  trading  schooner  which  they 
stole  from  its  anchorage  at  Tauranga,  and  in  which 
they  afterwards  made  an  expedition  against  Mayor 
Island,  where  they  killed  and  ate  the  inhabitants,  a 
section  of  the  Tauranga  people.  At  this  juncture 
SShortland  arrived  at  Tauranga  and  resolved  to  pun- 
ish the  Maketu  natives  for  their  cannibalism  as 
well  as  for  the  theft  of  the  schooner.  The  Govern- 
ment brig  was  sent  to  Auckland  and  returned  with! 
a  party  of  soldiers  and  three  guns;  but,  luckily,  be- 


132  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

fore  a  shot  was  fired,  the  pacific  counsels  of  Bishop 
Selwyn  and  Chief  Justice  Martin,  who  had  just 
come  from  Maketu,  induced  the  Governor  to  stay  his 
hand;  and  when  Swain  son  asserted  that  Mayor 
Island  was  not  in  the  Colony  and  that  Tangaroa 
having  never  ceded  his  sovereignty  to  the  Queen 
could  not  be  legally  arrested,  the  warlike  project  was 
finally  abandoned.  Swainson's  reading  of  constitu- 
tional law  gave  umbrage  to  Lord  Stanley,  who  wrote 
that  a  gentleman  holding  such  opinions  could  not  be 
allowed  to  "  act  as  a  public  officer."  This  was 
severe,  but  the  Attorney-General  was  not  removed 
from  his  post. 

Some  time  before  this  the  Land  Commissioners, 
after  vexatious  delays,  had  begun  their  labours, 
Spain  in  the  Cook's  Straits  settlements,  and  Rich- 
mond and  Godfrey  in  the  north.  Over  a  thousand 
claims  were  referred  to  the  latter  gentlemen,  who  in 
May,  1843,  reported  that  a  settlement  had  been  ar- 
rived at  in  regard  to  about  half  of  these  cases.  Many 
of  the  land-sharks  made  no  attempt  to  substantiate 
claims  they  had  formerly  put  forward;  those  who 
were  bold  enough  to  come  into  Court  made,  in  most 
cases,  but  a  poor  justification  of  their  titles,  and  suf- 
fered a  ruthless  reduction  of  their  claims.  Among 
these  were  many  Church  of  England  missionaries 
who  had  been  loud  in  their  outcry  against  Wake- 
field's  "  thievish  "  land  transactions.  Their  claims 
amounted  to  over  200,000  acres,  one  gentleman 
alone  having  obtained  50,000  acres,  which  he  had 
taken  over,  so  he  averred,  for  the  purpose  of  putting 
an  end  to  a  tribal  war.  Wesleyans  and  Roman  Cath- 
olics had  had  the  good  sense  to  refrain,  and  among  the 
Anglicans  also  there  were  a  few  individuals  who  had 
kept  their  hands  clean.  The  missionary  claims  were 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER.        133 

cut  down  to  66,713  acres,  but  the  revelation  of  their 
worldliness  did  not  diminish  the  bitter  feeling  which 
existed  between  them  and  the  Company.  The  ap- 
pointment by  Hobson  of  a  catechist,  George  Clarke, 
as  Protector  of  the  Aborigines,  was  ill-advised,  for 
it  gave  ground  for  suspicion  that  much  of  the  ob- 
struction made  by  the  Maoris  to  land  occupation 
was  traceable  to  his  partisan  influence. 

Commissioner  Spain,  who  adjudicated  upon  the 
Company's  claims,  had  a  much  more  delicate  task. 
He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  much  ability,  who, 
within  the  limits  of  his  instructions,  strove  to  deal 
out  justice  with  impartial  hands;  but  the  delay  in 
sending  him  and  the  length  of  time  taken  by  the 
inquiries  had  exasperated  the  agents  of  the  Company 
as  well  as  the  settlers.  The  former  were  something 
lacking  in  courtesy,  and  pursued  at  times  a  tortuous 
path  of  intrigue  which  in  the  end  damaged  thedr 
cause.  Worried  by  directors,  weary  of  an  unprofit- 
able speculation,  bullied  by  a  suspicious  government, 
which  had  no  sympathy  with  the  work  of  colonisa- 
tion, and  harassed  by  the  complaints  of  settlers,  who 
were  tired  of  waiting  to  be  put  in  possession  of  their 
promised  lands,  their  lot  was  far  from  enviable.  It 
can  scarcely  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  they  took 
the  bit  between  their  teeth  or  kicked  over  the  traces 
of  legislation.  Finally  they  got  themselves  entangled 
in  a  squabble  with  Rauparaha  and  Rangihaeata  over 
the  possession  of  the  Wairau  Valley,  a  fertile  tract 
of  country  in  the  north-east  of  the  Middle  Island. 
The  chiefs  denied  having  sold  the  land,  which  they 
claimed  by  right  of  conquest,  and  when  Captain 
Wakcficld  sent  surveyors  from  Nelson,  the  natives 
•warned  them  off  and  set  fire  to  the  huts  they  erected. 
Wakefield  then  decided  to  use  more  forcible  mea*- 


134  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ares  with  these  "  travelling  bullies."  Instead  of 
waiting  for  Mr.  Spain,  who  was  on  the  eve  of  setting 
out  for  the  Wairau,he  took  out,  with  imprudent  haste, 
a  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Rauparaha  on  a  charge 
of  arson;  and  accompanied  by  Police  Magistrate 
Thompson  and  fifty  armed  settlers,  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Wairau.  After  proceeding  inland  some 
miles,  they  found  themselves  confronted  by  Rau- 
paraha and  his  followers,  who  had  taken  up  a  strong 
position,  with  a  deep  creek  in  front  and  a  wood  be- 
hind. In  the  midst  of  a  Babel  of  talk  the  magis- 
trate explained  his  errand.  Rauparaha  natur- 
ally declined  to  surrender  himself  as  a  prisoner, 
and  an  attempt  to  seize  him  led  to  a  confused  scuffle 
in  which  a  settler's  gun  went  off,  by  accident  it  was 
said,  wounding  a  female  servant  of  Rangihaeata. 
This  was  the  signal  for  a  sharp  fight  in  which  thir- 
teen of  the  settlers  fell  before  the  Maori  muskets. 
Terrified  by  this  loss,  the  majority  took  to  their 
heels;  Captain  Wakefield  and  eight  others,  who 
scorned  flight,  were  taken  prisoners  and  tomahawked 
by  the  ferocious  Rangihaeata.  Fearing  reprisals, 
Rauparaha  withdrew  across  the  Straits  to  Otaki, 
where  he  exhibited  in  triumph  the  handcuffs  that 
had  been  intended  for  his  own  wrists.  In  this  un- 
fortunate fray  twenty-two  settlers  lost  their  lives. 
The  news  of  the  massacre  filled  the  colonists  with 
mingled  panic  and  fury.  Petitions  were  prepared 
calling  for  troops  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  perpe- 
trators of  the  deed.  In  response  to  these  demands 
a  few  soldiers  were  sent  to  Wellington  and  a  man- 
of-war  to  Nelson;  but  two  police  magistrates  re- 
fused to  issue  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  the  chiefs, 
and  when  some  unpaid  magistrates  at  Nelson  signed 
a  warrant,  nobody  could  be  got  to  "  bell  the  cat" 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER.        135 

Spain  visited  Rauparaha  and  told  him  that  the  dis- 
pute would  be  decided  by  the  Crown,  and  Shortland 
contented  himself  with  promising  an  inquiry. 

News  of  the  victory,  for  such  it  was,  spread  like 
wild-fire  among  the  Maoris,  and  as  usual  in  such 
cases  lost  nothing  in  the  telling.  The  mana  of  the 
English  received  a  severe  blow;  Rauparaha  became 
the  hero  of  the  tribes,  and  many  a  chief  was  filled 
with  a  desire  to  emulate  his  exploits.  "  Is  Rauga- 
raha,"  said  one  of  them,  "  to  have  all  the  honour  of 
killing  the  white  men  ?  "  In  their  then  mood  a  false 
step  would  have  kindled  war  from  the  North  Cape 
to  Cook's  Straits. 

Shortland  did  nothing,  and  his  inactivity,  if  it 
cannot  be  called  masterly,  was  at  least  prudent.  His 
successor  was  on  the  way  from  England  and  he  was 
beset  with  financial  worries.  The  revenue  was  de- 
creasing— the  land  sales,  from  which  so  much  had 
been  expected,  realised  in  1843  a  paltry  £1600; 
and  the  expenditure  had  grown  to  such  an  extent 
that  the  government  was  now  £20,000  in  debt.  In 
this  desperate  plight  Shortland,  after  trying  in  vain 
to  raise  £15,000  in  Sydney  at  15  per  cent.,  drew  bills 
on  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury,  but  only  to  have  them 
dishonoured.  He  was  no  doubt  glad  to  hand  over 
the  government  to  Captain  Fitzroy,  who  arrived  in 
November,  1843,  and  who  thought  fit  to  cover  him 
with  insult.  He  resigned  his  position  as  Colonial 
Secretary  and  was  consoled  by  being  made  Governor 
of  the  Island  of  Nevis  in  the  West  Indies. 

Fitzroy 's  arrival  at  Auckland  was,  to  quote  Dr. 
Thomson,  "eminently  ridiculous.  A  gentleman 
connected  with  the  native  department,  carried  a 
polo  surmounted  with  a  crown  of  flax,  from  which 
waved  the  New  Zealand  flag;  and  Captain  Fitzroy, 


136  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

excited  by  the  occasion,  cried  aloud,  when  stepping 
on  shore,  *  I  have  come  among  you  to  do  all  the  good 
I  can.'  The  crowd  of  fifty  persons  replied  to  this 
noble  sentiment  with  a  cheer,  and  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  company  of  soldiers  in  attendance 
shouted,  '  Quick  march ; '  immediately  the  two 
drummer-boys  and  the  fifes  of  the  guard  of  honour 
struck  up  '  The  King  of  the  Cannibal  Islands,'  to 
which  appropriate  air  His  Excellency  marched  to 
Government  House."  With  the  best  intentions  in 
the  world,  Fitzroy  was  ill-fitted  to  deal  with  the 
"  sea  of  troubles  "  that  was  awaiting  him  in  New 
Zealand.  A  sailor  of  uncertain  temper,  ignorant  of 
the  rudiments  of  administration  and  of  the  con- 
ditions of  Colonial  life,  energetic  but  tactless,  he 
succeeded  in  making  confusion  worse  confounded. 
Everywhere  he  found  the  settlers  angry  and  dissat- 
isfied and  the  Maoris  insolent  with  recent  successes. 
At  Auckland  the  white  people  complained  of  finan- 
cial depression  and  laid  all  their  troubles  at  the  door 
of  the  Government,  and  the  natives  presented  ad- 
dresses in  which  they  lamented  the  high  price  of 
tobacco  and  the  restriction  which  forbade  them  to 
sell  land.  Obviously  this  last  complaint  was  merely 
local  and  smacks  somewhat  too  plainly  of  pakeha 
inspiration.  In  January,  1844,  the  Governor  sailed 
for  the  Cook's  Strait  settlements.  At  the  levee  held 
at  Wellington  the  colonists  abused  the  Maoris  and 
the  Maoris  complained  of  the  misdeeds  of  the  set- 
tlers. The  latter,  in  their  address,  referred  in  strong 
language  to  the  massacre  and  to  the  fact  that  the 
perpetrators,  instead  of  being  brought  to  justice,  had 
been  "  treated  as  innocent  or  injured  parties ; " 
statements  which  were  received  by  the  Governor 
with  an  explosion  of  wrath.  He  roundly  abused 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER.        137 

Jemingham  Wakefield  and  others  for  their  alleged 
hatred  of  the  Maoris.  Then  passing  over  to  Nelson, 
he  scolded  the  magistrates  who  had  signed  the 
warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Rauparaha.  "  The 
natives,"  he  informed  them,  "  had  never  sold 
the  Wairau ; "  the  hut  which  had  been  burned 
was  built  on  their  ground  and  of  materials  be- 
longing to  them ;  "  consequently  no  arson  was 
committed,  and  therefore  the  warrant  was  illegal." 
These  were  the  words  of  a  bitter  partisan,  not  of  a 
peacemaker  desiring  to  hold  the  balance  true  be- 
tween English  and  Maoris.  At  Kapiti  he  met  Rau- 
paraha and  Rangihaeata,  and  after  listening  to  the 
former's  account  of  the  massacre  and  its  causes,  re- 
buked them  for  murdering  the  men  who  surren- 
dered, but  assured  them  that  as  the  Europeans  were 
first  in  the  wrong,  he  would  not  avenge  their  deaths, 
and  concluded  by  urging  them  to  seek  the  advice  of 
their  missionaries  and  protectors.  It  is  easy  to  im- 
agine the  effect  of  these  senseless  doings.  To  the 
Maoris  the  Governor's  clemency  was  another  name 
for  weakness,  and  they  became  more  boastful  than 
ever.  The  colonists,  at  first  stupefied  by  what  seemed 
to  them  the  insanity  of  the  Governor's  words  and 
actions,  gave  themselves  up  to  bitter  hatred  of  the 
natives  and  indulged  in  the  gloomiest  forebodings. 
Their  mana  was  gone  and  they  realised  that  they 
had  ceased  to  be  the  dominant  race.  Their  settle- 
ments were  defenceless;  an  attack  in  force  could 
have  swept  them  into  the  sea.  Men  acquainted  with 
native  customs  knew  that,  although  from  his  point 
of  view  Rauparaha  was  justified  in  slaughtering  the 
settlers  who  sought  to  arrest  him,  the  failure  to  exact 
punishment  could  only  be  regarded  by  the  Maoris 
as  the  result  of  fear  and  cowardice.  "  You  white 


138  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

people,"  said  a  chief,  "  are  very  good  for  building 
houses  and  ships,  for  buying  and  selling,  for  making 
cattle  fat,  and  for  growing  bread  and  cabbages;  you 
are  like  rats,  always  at  work,  but  as  to  fighting,  you 
are  like  them  also,  you  only  know  how  to  run."  The 
missionaries  may  have  felt  pleasure  in  seeing  their 
countrymen  and  themselves  humbled  in  this  manner ; 
but  laymen  outside  of  government  circles  were  furi- 
ous; they  recognised  clearly  now  that  when  a  bar- 
barian has  smitten  one  cheek,  to  turn  to  him  the 
other  is  to  court  first  contempt  and  then  extinction, 
which,  from  an  ethical  point  of  view,  can  scarcely 
be  good  for  anybody. 

Fitzroy,  however,  committed  himself  to  a  policy 
of  more  or  less  blind  conciliation.  When  a  native 
at  Aiickland,  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  theft, 
was  forcibly  released  by  a  chief  named  Kawau,  the 
Governor  pocketed  the  affront  and  altered  the  law 
so  as  to  make  compensation  the  punishment  for  thiev- 
ing among  the  Maoris.  At  another  time  this  might 
have  passed  as  reasonably  good  policy.  The  Auck- 
land natives  complained  again  that  the  Government 
would  neither  purchase  land  nor  allow  private  per- 
sons to  buy  direct  from  themselves.  The  Governor 
immediately  gave  permission  to  buy  land  direct  from 
the  natives,  on  condition,  however,  that  the  purchaser 
gave  ten  shillings  an  acre  to  the  Government.  This 
concession,  however,  pleased  nobody.  The  land 
speculators  found  the  condition  so  hard  that  only 
small  quantities  of  land  were  bought,  and  conse- 
quently Maoris  clamouring  to  sell  were  no  better 
off  than  before.  The  Conservative  party  among  the 
Mnoris,  moreover,  regarded  the  change  as  an  in- 
fraction of  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi.  It  was  then  de- 
termined to  bring  a  little  moral  suasion  to  bear  on 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER.        139 

the  Governor.  Accordingly  the  Auckland  Maoris 
invited  the  Waikato  tribes  to  a  feast  to  be  given 
about  two  miles  from  Auckland.  Immense  quanti- 
ties of  food  were  collected  for  the  occasion:  11,000 
baskets  of  potatoes,  900  sharks,  100  full-grown  pigs, 
not  to  mention  wheat,  tobacco,  and  other  sundries. 
The  Governor  was  invited  to  be  present  to  witness  a 
war-dance  performed  by  sixteen  hundred  Maoris 
armed  with  muskets  and  tomahawks.  This  display 
of  force  dismayed  the  white  community  and  helped 
to  draw  from  Fitzroy  the  "  penny  an  acre  procla- 
mation," which  authorised  the  purchase  of  land 
from  the  natives  on  payment  of  a  penny  an  acre  to 
the  Government.  Under  this  regulation  the  Maoris 
disposed  of  thousands  of  acres,  many  of  the  pur- 
chasers, however,  having  afterwards  to  disgorge 
when  Grey  appeared  on  the  scene. 

In  the  meantime  complications  had  arisen  in  Ta- 
ranaki,  and  the  Governor's  anxiety  to  do  all  the  good 
in  his  power  tied  matters  into  a  knot  that  only  the 
sword  could  undo.  The  Commissioners  had  awarded 
the  settlers  at  N"ew  Plymouth  60,000  acres,  but  the 
rapidly  returning  Ngatiawa  had  no  intention  to 
abide  by  this  decision.  Plucking  up  courage  from 
the  obvious  weakness  of  the  Government,  these 
emancipated  slaves  bullied  the  farmers,  and  jeered 
at  them  in  true  Maori  fashion.  Life  had  never  been 
pleasant  for  the  Taranaki  emigrants:  Fitzroy  now 
made  it  unbearable.  He  cancelled  Spain's  award 
and  confined  the  colonists  to  3200  acres  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Sugar  Loaves:  an  almost  incred- 
ible act  of  folly,  inspired  by  the  worthiest  motives, 
but  none  the  less  an  act  of  folly. 

Having  done  more  than  justice  to  truculent  natives 
— for  their  attitude  at  this  period,  thanks  to  the  pol- 


14:0  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

icy  of  conciliation  at  Taranaki,  Wellington  and  else- 
where, can  only  be  described  as  truculent — Fitzroy 
returned  to  Auckland  to  find  that  a  pretty  storm  was 
brewing  at  the  Bay  of  Islands.  The  order  for  recall 
had  already  gone  forth,  but  before  it  could  reach 
him  the  storm  had  burst.  As  related  in  the  last 
chapter  Kororareka  had  sunk  into  insignificance; 
trade  languished,  ruined  it  was  said  by  the  impo- 
sition of  customs  duties,  which  also  increased  the 
price  of  tobacco  and  blankets,  a  great  grievance  with 
the  Maoris.  Kororareka  grumbled  and  asked  for 
the  abolition  of  customs.  The  Governor  removed 
them;  and  when  outcry  arose  for  a  similar  conces- 
sion at  other  settlements,  he  abolished  customs  all 
round,  and  in  order  to  meet  an  accumulating  deficit, 
issued  paper  money.  But  conciliate  as  he  would,  it 
was  impossible  to  appease  the  discontent  of  the 
Ngapuhi,  now  under  the  leadership  of  Hone  Ileke, 
the  son-in-law  of  Hongi.  Though  not  a  great  war- 
rior, nor  highly  born,  his  marriage  gave  him  prestige, 
and  a  shrewd  turn  for  diplomacy  and  the  blunders 
of  the  Government  made  him  as  great  a  power  in  the 
north  as  Rauparaha  was  in  the  south.  At  one  time 
he  professed  to  be  a  devout  Christian,  but  soon  re- 
lapsed into  a  paganism  which  resolved  itself  into 
an  undying  hatred  of  the  white  men.  On  a  hill  over- 
looking the  township  of  Kororareka  was  a  flagstaff, 
from  which  fluttered  the  flag  of  England,  and  to 
which  signal  balls  were  attached.  The  Maoris,  in- 
structed, it  is  said,  by  a  designing  Yankee  beach- 
comber, had  grown  to  believe  that  this  flagstaff  repre- 
sented the  Queen's  sovereignty  and  was  the  cause  of 
the  depression  they  complained  of.  Anyhow  it 
formed  a  good  target  for  the  insolence  of  Hone 
Heke's  braves.  They  marched  into  town,  plundered 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER. 

a  few  stores,  in  retaliation  for  the  non-payment  of 
ransom  by  a  man  named  Lord,  whose  wife  Heke  had 
stolen,  and  then  cut  down  and  burned  the  flagstaff. 
This  was  in  July,  1844.  Alarmed  by  this  act  of 
aggression,  Fitzroy  got  together  the  few  troops  he 
had  and  others  he  had  procured  from  Australia  and 
sent  them  to  the  Bay  of  Islands.  He  himself  fol- 
lowed in  a  warship.  Before  hostilities  could  begin 
several  chiefs,  led  by  the  friendly  Waka  Nene,  asked 
the  Governor  to  suspend  action,  undertaking  if  the 
Governor  would  abolish  the  customs  to  have  the  flag- 
staff replaced  and  to  keep  Heke  in  order.  Fitzroy 
hastened  to  accept  this  offer  and  ten  muskets  which 
Heke  sent  as  compensation  for  the  injury  done,  and 
which  the  Governor  with  quixotic  generosity  returned 
to  the  giver.  Relying  upon  the  promise  of  Waka 
Nene,  he  withdrew  all  the  troops  and  flattered  him- 
self that  the  trouble  was  over;  but  RTene,  though  a 
faithful  ally,  reckoned  without  his  host  when  he 
undertook  to  be  keeper  of  the  peace.  The  flagstaff 
was  erected  in  its  place,  but  Heke's  turbulent  fol- 
lowers still  continued  their  insults  and  depredations. 
Recently  they  had  received  a  new  cause  of  grievance. 
News  had  reached  the  Colony  that  an  English  Par- 
liamentary Committee  had  commented  unfavourably 
on  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi,  and  this  news,  circulated 
among  the  Maoris,  increased  the  general  ferment 
and  gave  Heke  a  pretext  for  further  violence.  The 
flagstaff  was  again  cut  down  and  the  property  of  two 
settlers  destroyed.  Thereupon  the  Governor  offered 
a  reward  for  the  capture  of  Heke,  and  the  latter,  not 
to  be  outdone,  offered  a  similar  reward  for  the  head 
of  the  Governor.  "  Is  Heke  a  pig,"  he  cried,  "  that 
he  should  be  bought  and  sold  ?  "  The  flagpole  was 
erected  for  a  third  time,  sheathed  in  iron  and  pro- 


34:2  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

tected  by  a  stockade  within  which  a  party  of  soldiers 
was  left  on  guard;  but  these  precautions  merely  in- 
creased Heke's  determination  to  destroy  the  hated 
symbol  of  foreign  authority.  He  announced  his  in- 
tention of  attacking  it.  The  white  inhabitants  armed 
and  drilled;  blockhouses  were  erected;  soldiers 
guarded  the  flagstaff ;  and  the  captain  of  the  Hazard 
posted  a  gun  to  command  the  approach  to  the  town. 
In  the  meantime  the  missionaries  exerted  themselves 
to  keep  the  peace:  one  of  them  went  to  the  Maori 
camp  and  preached  from  the  text  "  Whence  come 
wars  and  fightings,"  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
sermon  Heke  suggested  that  the  missionary  should 
deliver  the  same  discourse  to  the  English  camp.  On 
March  the  llth  (1845)  the  threatened  attack  was 
made.  The  defenders  of  the  flag,  divided  by  a  strata- 
gem, were  routed  and  the  pole  cut  down.  Robert- 
son, the  captain  of  the  Hazard,  repulsed  the  main 
attack,  but  was  seriously  wounded.  The  Maoris  had 
already  hoisted  a  flag  of  truce,  when  the  blowing  up 
of  the  powder  magazine  created  a  panic  among  the 
civilians.  It  was  decided  to  evacuate  the  township, 
and  then  began  a  sauve  qui  pent  which  astonished 
the  Maoris  congregated  on  the  hills  around.  Amid 
indescribable  confusion,  the  boats  of  the  Hazard  and 
the  United  States  corvette  St.  Louis  removed  the 
terror-stricken  inhabitants  to  the  ships.  Bishop  Sel- 
wyn  exposed  himself  fearlessly  to  the  fire  of  the 
enemy  in  his  endeavours  to  rescue  women  and  chil- 
dren, and  to  care  for  the  wounded.  Presently  the 
Maoris  trooped  with  joyous  yells  into  the  forsaken 
township,  and  looted  everything  worth  looting,  and 
then  a  house  taking  fire,  a  conflagration  completed 
the  destruction  of  Kbrorareka. 

When  the  refugees  arrived  at  Auckland,  the  con- 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER.        143 

sternation  of  the  capital  was  extreme.  Wild  rumours 
got  abroad.  Heke  with  his  victorious  warriors  was 
expected  in  Auckland  the  next  full  moon.  Settlers 
in  outlying  districts  abandoned  everything  and  hud- 
dled into  town  or,  in  disgust,  left  the  Colony  alto- 
gether. Some  preparations  were  made  to  resist  an 
attack;  the  barracks  were  entrenched,  earthworks 
thrown  up,  and  some  hundreds  of  men  armed  and 
practised  in  drill ;  but  a  time  of  wild  alarms  followed. 
At  Wellington  and  Nelson  similar  precautions  were 
taken,  stockades  being  formed  and  militia  enrolled. 
In  these  circumstances  the  Governor  sent  to  Aus- 
tralia for  more  troops,  and  to  the  Legislative  Council 
hastily  assembled  he  confessed  that  the  present  diffi- 
culties were  not  due  to  custom  duties,  which  were 
levied  once  more,  instead  of  the  property  tax  which 
the  Wellington  settlers  had  point  blank  refused  to 
pay.  Meanwhile  Hone  Heke  and  Kawiti,  his  brother 
conspirator,  somewhat  alarmed  at  the  crisis  they  had 
brought  about,  instead  of  attacking  Auckland,  had 
their  canoes  dragged  inland  and  retired  to  Okaihau, 
a  pa  belonging  to  Kawiti.  Early  in  May  400  troops 
under  Colonel  Hulme,  with  a  native  contingent  of 
the  same  number  under  Waka  Nene,  advanced 
through  the  forest,  along  a  rain-sodden  track  which 
led  to  the  pa.  It  was  a  dismal  march,  rain  falling 
in  torrents,  and  four  days  elapsed  before  the  be- 
draggled soldiers  found  themselves  in  front  of 
Okaihau.  The  pa,  situated  on  a  narrow  plateau, 
with  a  forest  in  the  rear,  was  protected  by 
palisades  and  a  ditch  which  effectually  screened 
the  enemy  and  protected  them  from  rifle  fire. 
Colonel  Hulme  having  no  artillery,  fired  a  few 
rockets,  which  inspired  only  a  momentary  terror  and 
did  no  damage.  Then  the  Maoris,  in  contempt  of 


144  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

these  efforts,  issued  from  their  stronghold  and,  armed 
with  long-handled  tomahawks,  made  a  daring  sortie, 
which  was  only  repulsed  by  the  bayonet  with  a  loss 
to  the  soldiers  of  fourteen  killed  and  thirty-nine 
wounded.  Deeming  the  place  impregnable  without 
artillery,  Hulme  retreated,  his  wounded  being  car- 
ried in  litters  constructed  by  the  native  allies.  His 
arrival  in  Auckland,  with  news  of  his  own  defeat, 
created  something  like  stupefaction  among  the  col- 
onists. Heke's  men,  more  than  ever  vain-glorious 
and  boastful,  fell  foul  of  our  allies  under  Waka 
Nene,  and  Heke  himself  received  a  bullet  wound 
which  prevented  his  taking  part  in  the  next  cam- 
paign. Before  guns  and  reinforcements  arrived  from 
Sydney,  his  forces  had  been  withdrawn  to  Oheawai, 
where  a  strong  pa  had  been  constructed.  It  was 
flanked  on  either  side  by  a  ravine,  and  was  encircled 
by  triple  palisades,  the  innermost  consisting  of  tree- 
trunks  fifteen  feet  high  and  more  than  a  foot  thick. 
Ditches  serving  as  rifle  pits  were  excavated  between 
the  palisades,  and,  inside  the  pa,  the  huts  were  partly 
underground.  On  the  23rd  of  June  Colonel  Des- 
pard,  who  had  replaced  Hulme,  arrived  before  this 
formidable  entrenchment.  His  force  consisted  of 
630  men  and  four  guns,  and  the  native  allies  num- 
bered about  250;  the  defenders  could  only  muster 
250  men,  armed  with  double  and  single  barrelled 
guns.  The  big  guns  opened  fire  at  short  range  and 
pounded  away  at  the  palisades  for  several  days,  but 
though  aided  by  a  thirty-two  pounder  from  a  warship, 
little  damage  was  done,  except  to  the  outer  row  of 
palisades.  Colonel  Despard  considering  the  breacK 
practicable,  ordered  an  assault,  and  200  men,  led 
by  Lieutenant  Philpott,  R.N.,  rushed  against  the 
stockade,  but  finding  the  inner  wall  still  intact,  they 


THE  WAIRAU  MASSACRE  AND  AFTER.        145 

were  forced  to  retire,  leaving  half  their  number  dead 
or  wounded  on  the  field.  As  the  besiegers  sat  around 
their  camp  fires  that  night  they  heard,  mingled  with 
the  exultant  shouts  of  the  Maori  warriors,  the  agon- 
ising screams  of  a  captured  comrade,  tortured  with 
burning  Kauri  gum.  For  some  days,  pending  the 
arrival  of  more  ammunition,  the  besiegers  remained 
inactive,  and  when  the  bombardment  was  again  re- 
sumed it  was  found  that  the  enemy  had  made  a  mid- 
night flitting.  The  pa  was  now  empty,  save  for  howl- 
ing dogs  left  behind  on  purpose  to  divert  attention 
from  the  retreat.  It  was  a  useless  victory,  for  the 
enemy  had  escaped  and  the  loss  of  their  pa  was  of 
little  consequence.  Such  as  it  was,  it  furnished  Mr. 
George  Clarke,  Protector  of  the  Aborigines,  with  an 
opportunity  for  urging  the  cessation  of  hostilities, 
and  the  Governor,  accepting  these  counsels  of  humili- 
ation, ordered  an  armistice  and  withdrew  the  troops 
to  the  Bay  of  Islands.  It  is  little  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  press  of  the  Colony  was  unanimous  in  its 
disapproval  of  this  policy  of  philanthropic  shilly- 
shally, which,  while  it  did  nothing  to  relieve  the 
financial  strain,  encouraged  the  disaffection  of  the 
natives  by  damaging  the  prestige  of  the  English. 
It  was  a  relief  to  all  when  Captain  George  Grey  took 
over  the  reins  of  government.  Bishop  Selwyn  said 
that  Fitzroy  was  "  the  man  who  lost  Kororareka,  but- 
saved  "New  Zealand ;  "  if  he  saved  New  Zealand,  it 
was  only  by  creating  a  crisis  which  necessitated  the 
presence  of  a  strong  governor,  who  had  already  a 
reputation  for  extracting  colonies  from  difficulties. 


146  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND, 


CHAPTER  XIH. 

GOVERNOR   GREY. 

CAPTAIN  GEORGE  GREY  arrived  in  Auckland  on 
November  the  14th,  1845.  His  appointment  by  the 
Colonial  Office  covers  up  a  multitude  of  sins.  Still 
a  young  man — he  was  only  thirty-two — Grey  had 
shown  marked  ability  in  dealing  with  the  financial 
troubles  of  South  Australia.  His  autocratic  rule, 
especially  the  drastic  retrenchments  which  he  car- 
ried out,  had  at  first  earned  him  the  violent  hatred 
of  the  Adelaide  settlers,  but  when  he  left  to  become 
Governor  of  New  Zealand,  time  had  justified  his 
policy  and  his  bitterest  opponents  regretted  his  de- 
parture. Moreover,  he  was  reputed  to  have  much 
tact  and  skill  in  dealing  with  native  races;  a  repu- 
tation which  his  after  career  did  not  belie.  Courte- 
ous, sympathetic,  farseeing,  resolute,  Captain  Grey 
was  the  very  man  for  the  work  in  hand.  At  his  com- 
ing he  found  an  empty  exchequer,  sullen  and  dis- 
contented colonists,  and  the  Maoris  of  the  North 
still  unconquered,  whilst  those  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Cook's  Straits  were  as  troublesome  as  they  could 
well  be  without  actually  declaring  war.  Among 
Grey's  first  acts  were  the  withdrawal  of  Fitzroy's 
debentures,  the  cancelling  of  the  "  penny  an  acre  " 
proclamation,  and  the  passing  of  an  ordinance  pro- 
hibiting the  sale  of  fire-arms  to  the  natives.  Then 
he  turned  his  attention  to  the  northern  rebels.  Heke 
and  Kawiti  were  given  a  certain  time  in  which  to  de- 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  147 

cide  for  peace  or  war,  and  as  their  replies  were  not 
satisfactory,  Colonel  Despard  was  ordered  to  take 
the  field  against  them.  He  had  under  him  1200 
troops,  well  supplied  with  artillery,  and  was  ac- 
companied by  the  Governor.  The  force  directed  its 
march  against  the  strongly  fortified  pa  of  Ruapeka- 
peka,  which  was  situated  sixteen  miles  inland.  It 
was  a  larger  and  stronger  replica  of  Ohaeawai,  and 
the  defenders  numbered  about  500.  On  the  last  day 
of  the  year  (1845)  the  guns  opened  fire  and  con- 
tinued to  pound  away  at  the  palisades  for  more  than 
a  week.  On  the  10th  of  January  two  small  breaches 
were  made,  but  a  fortunate  discovery  obviated  an 
assault  which,  as  on  former  occasions,  might  have 
been  attended  with  great  loss  of  life.  The  next  day 
was  a  Sunday,  and  the  garrison,  supposing  that  there 
would  be  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  occupied  them- 
selves in  one  of  the  outworks  of  the  pa  in  cooking 
and  praying.  Some  of  our  native  allies  with  a  de- 
tachment of  soldiers  crept  up  to  the  stockade  and 
meeting  no  resistance,  entered  by  way  of  the 
breaches.  A  few  natives  left  on  guard  opened  fire 
and  a  desperate  struggle  ensued  within  the  pa,  the 
Maoris  trying  hard  to  regain  possession  of  their 
stronghold.  Their  efforts  were  fruitless  and  seeing 
that  the  game  was  up,  they  broke  and  fled.  Ruape- 
kapeka,  the  Bat's  Nest,  was  demolished,  and  Heke 
and  Kawiti,  deserted  by  their  followers,  wrote  to 
the  Governor  that  they  were  "  full."  The  insurrec- 
tion was  at  an  end  and  Grey  was  able,  without  risk, 
to  pardon  all  the  chiefs.  Waka  Nene  was  granted 
a  pension  for  his  aid  in  the  war.  The  rebels  them- 
selves soon  buried  the  hatchet,  for  they  had  found  in 
Grey  a  master  who  knew  when  to  conciliate  and 
when  to  be  firm. 


148  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Meanwhile  in  the  south,  disputes  about  land  were 
rapidly  approaching  a  climax.  Although  Fitzroy 
had  paid  £300  to  Rauparaha  and  Rangihaeata  for 
the  purchase  of  the  Hutt  valley,  the  natives  refused 
to  quit,  and  subjected  the  settlers  to  every  kind  of 
annoyance  and  insult.  A  raid,  in  which  many  of 
the  settlers  were  plundered,  brought  Colonel  Hulme 
with  300  soldiers  into  the  district,  but  as  the  Maoris 
retired  to  the  hills,  nothing  could  be  done  except 
leave  a  portion  of  the  troops  to  protect  the  settlers. 
On  Grey's  arrival  at  Wellington  this  force  was  in- 
creased, but  it  was  not  allowed  to  take  any  active 
measures:  it  merely  kept  the  natives  from  their 
cultivation  grounds  and  so  cut  off  their  food  supplies. 
In  consequence  of  these  tactics  many  of  them  were 
obliged  to  retire  inland.  After  a  time,  however, 
disturbances  broke  out  again ;  settlers  were  murdered 
and  a  party  of  soldiers  was  surprised  and  routed  at 
a  farm  in  the  Hutt  valley.  Other  successes  raised 
the  spirit  of  the  natives,  and  the  colonists,  who  had 
now  armed  and  erected  stockades,  were  clamorous 
to  put  an  end  to  a  condition  of  affairs  that  was  be- 
coming intolerable.  It  was  asserted  that  the  wily 
Rauparaha,  though  protesting  his  friendship,  was 
the  real  instigator  of  the  Maori  raids,  and  Grey 
having  satisfied  himself  that  this  suspicion  was  well 
founded,  resolved  on  a  bold  measure.  Without 
warning,  he  landed  before  dawn  130  soldiers,  sail- 
ors, and  police  at  Rauparaha's  village,  and  captur- 
ing the  chief  in  his  bed,  carried  him,  biting  and 
struggling,  on  board  ship.  Some  men  complained 
that  the  kidnapping  was  an  act  of  wanton  treachery. 
Its  effects,  however,  were  magical;  for  it  deprived 
the  Maori  agitation  of  its  brain.  The  Maoris  them- 
selves were  amazed  at  the  cleverness  of  the  man  who 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  149 

could  weave  a  web  capable  of  entoiling  the  great 
Rauparaha,  into  whose  thoughts  and  projects  none 
hitherto  had  dived.  The  capture  of  Ruapekapeka 
and  the  seizure  of  the  chief  had  restored  the  white 
man's  mana.  Rangihaeata,  thirsting  for  blood,  jet 
fearing  to  fall  into  the  web  of  the  spider,  fled  from 
his  stronghold  at  Pahautanui,  and  none  too  soon  for 
the  soldiers  were  on  his  track.  They  chased  him  to 
the  hills,  and  though  they  failed  in  one  attack  the 
want  of  food  compelled  his  followers  to  break  up 
into  small  parties  and  make  their  way  into  the  in- 
terior. About  the  same  time  Te  Heu  Heu  with 
fifty-four  followers  was  entombed  by  a  landslip. 
The  finger  of  God  seemed  to  be  in  these  misfortunes, 
but  the  fugitives  from  the  Wellington  districts,  so 
far  from  being  disheartened,  stirred  to  revolt  the 
Wanganui  and  Taupo  tribes,  who  were  easily  per- 
suaded to  take  up  the  cause.  Soldiers  were  sent  to 
Wanganui  to  protect  the  settlers  from  threatened  at- 
tack. The  accidental  shooting  of  a  Maori  by  a  mid- 
shipman precipitated  matters:  blood  for  blood  was 
the  Maori  law,  and  the  wife  and  children  of  a  set- 
tler were  chosen  as  the  victims.  The  murderers, 
seized  by  some  friendlies,  were  tried  by  court-martial 
and  shot.  Then  on  May  15th  (1847)  an  attack  was 
made  on  the  settlement,  the  inhabitants  of  which 
had  taken  refuge  in  a  stockade.  The  township  was 
plundered,  and  cattle  were  carried  off,  but  the  de- 
fenders of  the  stockade  beat  off  their  opponents  with 
considerable  loss.  The  garrison  was  soon  rein- 
forced, but  with  the  exception  of  a  few  sallies,  it  was 
content  to  blockade  the  river  and  keep  the  natives 
at  a  distance  from  the  stockade.  This  method  of 
warfare  was  unexpected  by  the  Maoris,  and  as  the 
river  blockade  was  maintained,  they  began  to  weary 


150  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

of  a  conflict  which  meant  little  glory  and  a  dearth" 
of  such  luxuries  as  tobacco  and  pipes.  In  February 
(1848)  the  principal  chiefs  handed  in  their  submis- 
sion. 

The  conflict  for  the  time  being  was  at  an  end. 
With  the  exception  of  hanging  "  Martin  Luther," 
a  Wellington  rebel,  Grey  used  his  victory  with  mod- 
eration. Martin  Luther  was  a  Christian  native  who 
had  joined  Rangihaeata  against  the  Government. 
His  only  crime  was  that  he  was  found  with  the 
"  rebels,"  and  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  understand 
on  what  ground  his  execution  could  be  justified. 
Had  the  intention  been  to  show  the  determination  of 
the  Governor  to  put  an  end  to  the  murder  of  settlers, 
it  would  have  been  better  to  have  made  an  example 
of  some  one  more  blood-guilty  than  Luther.  So 
much  sympathy  was  felt  for  him,  that  it  was  not 
easy  to  find  a  hangman.  The  soldier  who,  for  a 
purse  of  sovereigns,  was  induced  to  put  the  rope 
round  his  neck,  was  drowned  eighteen  months  after- 
wards, a  fate  which  the  superstitious  connected  with 
the  hanging  of  Martin  Luther.  In  spite  of  this 
mistaken  and  unfortunate  severity,  Grey  was  on  the 
whole  extremely  humane  in  his  dealings  with  the 
natives. 

Few  English  proconsuls,  indeed,  have  had  such  an 
instinctive  understanding  of  savage  character  or 
have  known  so  well  when  to  exercise  leniency.  At 
Wellington  even  before  the  capture  of  Rauparaha 
and  the  withdrawal  of  Rangihaeata,  numbers  of 
natives  had  been  employed  to  assist  a  company  of 
soldiers  in  making  a  road  to  Porirua,  and  the  asso- 
ciation proved  in  every  way  a  success.  Rangihaeata 
himself,  though  a  stout  opponent  of  pakeha  civilisa- 
tion, was  at  length  converted  by  Grey  to  take  a  prac- 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  151 

tical  interest  in  roads.  The  Governor  sent  him  a 
pony  and  trap,  with  which  the  "  fine  old  barbarian  " 
was  greatly  delighted.  The  sea  beach  near  his  pa  was 
covered  with  hard  sand  which  made  an  excellent 
drive ;  but  between  the  pa  and  the  sea  was  a  piece  of 
rough  ground  over  which,  in  its  natural  state,  it  was 
impossible  to  drive.  Throwing  consistency  to  the 
winds,  the  chief  turned  his  men  out  to  make  a  road- 
way, and  thereafter  was  to  be  seen  every  afternoon 
enjoying  a  drive  along  the  sand. 

There  are  still  some  who  blame  Grey  for  the  kid- 
napping of  Eauparaha.  It  is  said  that  there  was  no 
evidence  for  supposing  that  he  was  plotting  against 
the  Government,  and  that  the  Governor's  method  of 
seizing  him  was  treacherous  and  undignified.  How- 
ever that  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  the  removal  of 
Rauparaha  was  an  important  step  in  the  direction  of 
peace.  Although  he  pined  in  captivity,  his  treat- 
ment was  far  from  severe.  After  being  kept  for 
nearly  a  year  in  a  warship,  he  was  allowed  to  occupy 
a  native  house  in  the  Auckland  domain,  where  he 
•was  visited  in  September  1847  by  200  chiefs,  anx- 
ious to  show  their  respect  for  so  great  a  leader.  He 
made  a  speech  in  which  he  referred  to  his  own  doings 
in  war  and  his  capture  by  the  Governor,  and  for  a 
time  seemed  to  forget  the  degradation  under  which 
he  lay,  but  when  two  Maori  women  chanted  his 
heroic  deeds  and  lamented  his  fate,  the  old  man 
broke  down  and  wept  freely.  In  January  1848,  he 
was  allowed  to  return  to  Otaki,  a  free  man  once  more, 
but  broken  in  spirit  and  conscious  that  his  influence 
was  gone.  Before  his  death  he  professed  himself 
a  convert  to  Christianity,  but  if  the  story  told  by 
Dr.  Thomson  can  be  relied  on,  his  faith  could  only 
have  been  skin  deep,  "  A  few  days  before  his  death1 


152  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

(November  27th,  1849)  a  settler  called  to  see  him; 
while  there  a  neighbouring  clergyman  came  in  and 
offered  him  religious  consolation.  Rauparaha  de- 
meaned himself  in  a  manner  highly  becoming  such 
an  occasion,  and  when  the  missionary  had  gone,  he 
turned  to  the  other  visitor  and  said,  *  What  is  the 
use  of  all  that  nonsense?  It  will  do  my  belly  no 
good.'  He  then  changed  the  subject  to  the  Wan- 
gamii  races,  where  one  of  his  guests  was  running  a 
horse." 

For  his  service  in  restoring  peace  Grey  was  made 
a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Bath.  On  his  investi- 
ture he  chose  Waka  Nene  and  Te  Puni  to  be  his 
esquires,  a  graceful  act  which  a  chivalrous  people 
like  the  Maoris  were  not  slow  to  appreciate.  Num- 
bers of  the  rank  and  file  of  our  native  allies  were 
enrolled  as  policemen,  and  otherwise  rewarded  for 
their  loyalty.  The  native  policy  which  Sir  George 
Grey  now  set  himself  to  carry  out  did  not  always 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  colonists,  but  tentative 
though  it  was,  it  restored  confidence  and  secured 
peace.  Having  suppressed  rebellion  with  a  firm 
hand,  he  endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  Maoris  by 
strict  justice  and  by  adherence  to  pledges  which  the 
Government  had  made  to  them  in  the  Treaty  of  Wai- 
tangi.  At  his  coming  he  had  swept  aside  Fitzroy's 
land  legislation ;  he  had  restricted  the  sale  of  firearms 
and  liquor,  and  at  a  later  date  he  modified  the  law 
in  dealing  with  civil  suits  between  Maori  and  Maori, 
for  he  recognised  that  the  application  of  English 
law  to  savages  was  about  as  preposterous  as  Busby's 
dream  of  a  Maori  parliament.  Magistrates  were 
appointed  in  certain  districts  to  deal  with  native 
disputes  and  were  assisted  by  native  assessors.  Not 
the  least  of  his  reforms  was  the  establishment  of 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  153 

native  schools,  which  in  many  districts  tended  to 
promote  industry  and  civilisation.  By  establishing 
hospitals  he  struck  a  blow  at  native  witchcraft  and 
superstition.  His  whole  aim,  in  fact,  was  to  win 
the  sympathy  of  the  Maoris  and  to  put  them  in  a 
position  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  new  order 
of  things.  In  this  work  the  scheming  of  a  singularly 
resourceful  brain  was  aided  by  the  personal  magnet- 
ism which  he  possessed  to  an  unusual  degree.  His 
English  pride  was  not  too  stiff  to  bend  to  the 
humours  of  a  barbarian  chivalry.  It  is  related  of 
him  that  once  he  ran  a  race  with  a  Maori  chief,  and 
won.  On  another  occasion,  when  he  and  Selwyn 
were  tramping  in  the  Taupo  region,  their  provisions 
ran  short.  In  this  strait  they  came  across  the  house 
of  a  Maori  chief,  but  finding  it  shut,  Grey,  much 
against  Selwyn's  wish,  forced  the  door,  and  helped 
himself  and  the  bishop  to  the  contents  of  the  cup- 
board. To  Selwyn's  protest  he  replied :  "  Oh  no, 
I  know  the  chief  who  owns  the  place  and  he  would 
give  us  part  of  himself."  When  the  chief  returned 
next  day,  Grey  informed  him  of  their  burglary  and 
received  for  answer:  "Well,  that  was  like  true 
friends,  and  I'm  so  glad  you  did  it."  From  the 
first  he  had  set  himself  to  study  their  language,  cus- 
toms, and  legends ;  and  his  "  Polynesian  Mythol- 
ogy "  remains  to  this  day  the  standard  work  on 
Maori  lore.  Yet  courteous  and  sympathetic  though 
he  always  was,  none  knew  better  how  to  extinguish 
the  bully.  A  Maori  had  been  punished  at  Auckland 
for  theft  and  the  people  of  his  tribe  got  ready  their 
war  canoes  to  take  utu  upon  Auckland.  Grey  sum- 
moned the  military  pensioners  settled  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town,  and  ordered  a  warship,  anchored 
in  the  harbour,  to  proceed  to  sea  and  to  return  in 


154  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

time  to  block  the  retreat  of  the  canoes.  These 
preparations  were  made  quietly  and  without  fuss; 
and  when  the  warriors  arrived  and  had  dragged  their 
canoes  ashore,  they  found  themselves  encircled  by 
troops.  Caught  in  a  trap,  they  sent  their  leader  to 
Grey,  who  witnessed  the  sport  from  an  adjoining 
hill,  to  ask  him  what  he  proposed  to  do.  "  How 
could  you  be  so  foolish  ? "  asked  the  Governor.  "  I 
had  thought  you  a  wise  fellow."  The  chief  agreed 
to  go,  but  asked  to  be  allowed  to  wait  until  the  tide 
came  up.  But  Grey  was  obdurate:  they  must  de- 
part immediately.  So  the  Ngatipoa,  amid  much 
good-natured  chaff  from  the  onlookers,  were  forced 
to  haul  their  heavy  canoes  over  the  beach  to  the  sea, 
when  the  Governor  relented  so  far  as  to  permit  them 
to  lodge  over  night  at  a  neighbouring  pa.  Next 
day  they  left  a  penitent  letter  and  departed  in  peace. 
Perhaps  the  knottiest  problem  Grey  had  to  deal 
with  was  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of 
English  law.  A  few  cases  will  show  the  nature  of 
the  difficulties  that  had  to  be  faced.  To  put  a  Maori 
in  prison  was  to  degrade  him  for  ever  in  the  eyes 
of  his  fellows  and  to  give  him  an  excuse  for  retalia- 
tion. A  native  who  had  been  imprisoned  in  Wel- 
lington for  robbery — no  doubt  a  venial  offence  in 
his  eyes — exacted  utu  by  tomahawking  a  settler  and 
his  two  children — the  victims  being  chosen  at  ran- 
dom. For  this  crime — also  justifiable  by  the  Maori 
code — he  was  sentenced  to  death,  and  met  his  fate 
with  stolid  indifference.  Native  murders  were  fre- 
quent in  certain  parts  and  were  generally  traceable 
either  to  superstition  or  to  old  established  customs; 
and  although  it  was  evident  that  something  must  be 
done  to  check  their  recurrence,  it  was  difficult  to 
proceed  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  shock  the  Maori 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  155 

sense  of  justice.  For  example,  a  native  named 
Ratea  killed  another  native  for  seducing  his  wife, 
which  by  tribal  law  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do, 
and  an  attempt  to  punish  him  according  to  English 
law  threatened  to  cause  an  outbreak  among  the  na- 
tives. Fortunately  perhaps,  the  case  broke  down, 
and  the  murderer  was  acquitted,  on  purely  technical 
grounds.  The  appointment  of  native  assessors  to 
act  in  conjunction  with  English  magistrates  in  civil 
suits,  though  it  often  led  to  amusing  results,  was  on 
the  whole  a  useful  educational  experiment.  With 
other  agencies  it  helped  to  civilise  the  Maoris,  and 
to  familiarise  them  with  English  methods  and  laws, 
but  it  failed  to  prevent  that  anarchy  among  the 
tribes  which  was  being  brought  about  by  our  neglect 
to  provide  them  with  any  system  of  self-government 
or  to  become  ourselves  responsible  for  their  govern- 
ment. Sir  George  Grey,  no  doubt,  conceived  that 
the  times  were  not  ripe  for  interfering  with  tribal 
organisation,  and  directed  all  his  efforts  to  educating 
the  natives  and  improving  their  material  welfare. 
Their  capacity  for  learning  was  great.  In  1849 
Grey  wrote :  "  They  are  fond  of  agriculture,  take 
great  pleasure  in  cattle  and  horses ;  like  the  sea,  and 
form  good  sailors ;  are  attached  to  Europeans,  admire 
their  customs  and  manners ;  are  extremely  ambitious 
of  rising  in  civilisation,  and  of  becoming  skilled 
in  European  arts."  What  he  achieved  during  his 
first  administration  is  by  no  means  overstated  in 
his  reply  to  an  address  presented  to  him  by  the 
Maoris  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  in  1853.  "  For 
nearly  eight  years  we  have  thus  laboured  together; 
churches  and  schools  have  been  raised,  men  have 
abandoned  false  gods,  peace  has  been  established, 
lands  have  been  ploughed,  mills  have  been  built, 


156  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

great    roads    have    been  made,    abundance    prevails 
everywhere." 

But  though  successful  in  staving  off  a  war  of  races 
which  before  his  arrival  seemed  imminent,  and  in 
winning  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  Maoris, 
Grey  found  it  a  much  more  difficult  task  to  deal  with 
the  colonists.  Many  of  his  actions  were  bound  to 
be  unpopular,  and  his  enemies  accused  him  of  being 
autocratic  and  inconsiderate  where  the  settlers  were 
concerned.  He  had,  in  fact,  to  play  the  same  un- 
popular role  in  New  Zealand  as  in  South  Australia. 
He  found  the  finances  in  a  hopeless  muddle.  The 
Colony  was  £70,000  in  debt,  the  expenditure  was 
£23,000  in  excess  of  the  income,  and  the  debentures 
issued  by  Fitzroy  were  disallowed  by  the  Home 
Government.  Under  these  circumstances  expendi- 
ture had  to  be  curtailed  in  every  direction,  and  to 
meet  the  necessities  of  the  case,  taxation  had  to  be 
increased.  Retrenchment  and  taxation,  however, 
accompanied  as  they  were  by  the  restoration  of  con- 
fidence, might  have  passed  with  a  slight  amount  of 
grumbling,  but  when  the  Governor  put  his  foot  down 
upon  the  profitable  traffic  in  firearms  and  the  still 
more  profitable  speculation  in  land  which  had  fol- 
lowed Fitzroy's  proclamation,  the  outcry  was  long 
and  loud.  To  speculators  and  others  who  had  pur- 
chased land  around  Auckland  under  the  ten  shillings 
and  penny-an-acre  proclamations  he  refused  to  issue 
Crown  grants;  and  an  ordinance  passed  for  giving 
compensation  was  scouted  by  the  purchasers,  who 
claimed  that  the  action  of  one  Governor  could  not  be 
set  aside  by  his  successor.  A  claim  was  tested  be- 
fore the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Colony,  and  the  de- 
cision being  adverse,  the  purchasers  were  forced  to 
make  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  accept  any  compensa- 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  157 

tion  that  was  offered.  Then  the  Governor  got  him- 
self embroiled  in  a  heated  controversy  with  the  mis- 
sionaries. He  seems  to  have  suspected,  on  little 
more  evidence  than  irresponsible  gossip,  that  the 
missionaries  had  given  some  countenance  to  the 
northern  rebels,  and  he  asserted  that  their  land-shark- 
ing was  one  of  the  causes  of  Heke's  war,  a  statement 
which  drew  him  into  a  personal  altercation  with 
Henry  Williams.  It  was  quite  true  that  many  of 
the  missionaries  had  been  guilty  of  indiscretion  in 
obtaining  large  grants  of  land  from  the  natives,  but 
there  was  no  reason  for  supposing  that  these  grants 
were  the  cause  of  the  war.  It  is  needless,  however, 
to  go  into  the  particulars  of  the  squabble. 

The  Company's  settlers  had  other  grounds  of  com- 
plaint against  the  Governor.  At  Wellington  and 
Wanganui  the  natives,  thanks  to  Grey's  prompt  ac- 
tion, were  now  comparatively  quiet,  and  farmers  in 
outlying  districts  could  live  in  something  like  secur- 
ity; but  the  colonists,  irritated  by  the  sufferings  they 
had  endured  in  the  past,  and  perhaps  chagrined  that 
their  advice  was  not  followed  in  regard  to  the  na- 
tives, accused  the  Governor  of  culpable  inconsistency 
in  hanging  a  comparatively  innocent  man  like  Lu- 
ther and  treating  Rauparaha  and  Rangihaeata,  the 
murderers  of  Captain  Wakefield,  with  a  leniency 
which,  they  alleged,  argued  fear  rather  than  policy. 
Since  the  Wairau  massacre  their  attitude  towards 
the  natives  had  been  unreasonably  vindictive,  and 
many  of  them  would,  if  they  could,  have  swept  away 
the  Treaty  of  Waitangi  with  its  vexatious  restric- 
tions upon  the  sale  of  land.  It  was  well  that  Grey 
was  an  autocrat  and  strong  enough  to  resist  the 
desperate  remedies  they  advocated. 

Their  chief  grievance,  however,  was  that  Grey 


158  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

was  opposed  to  their  desire  for  representative  insti- 
tutions. In  1846  Earl  Grey,  then  Colonial  Secre- 
tary, had  passed  through  Parliament  "  an  act  to  make 
further  provision  for  the  government  of  the  New 
Zealand  Islands."  The  Royal  Charter  arrived  in 
1847  and  was  accompanied  by  lengthy  instructions 
for  the  inauguration  of  the  scheme  of  government. 
New  Zealand  was  to  be  divided  into  two  provinces, 
each  with  Lieutenant-Governor  acting  under  the 
authority  of  the  Governor-in-Chief.  Each  province 
was  to  have  an  Executive  Council  and  a  House  of 
Representatives ;  and  the  affairs  of  the  whole  Colony 
were  to  be  administered  by  the  Governor-in-Chief,  an 
Executive  Council,  and  a  House  of  Representatives. 
This  elaborate  constitution,  prepared  without  Grey's 
knowledge  or  advice,  was  no  doubt  pleasing  to  the 
agitators  at  Wellington,  but  it  contained  provisions 
which  justified  the  polite  but  resolute  refusal  of  the 
Governor  to  put  it  into  force.  In  the  first  place  it 
was  not  representative,  for  the  Maoris,  who,  of 
course,  greatly  outnumbered  the  settlers,  were  prac- 
tically ignored,  only  those  of  them  who  could  read 
and  write  English  being  allowed  to  vote.  And  in 
the  second  place  expressions  were  used  which  seemed 
both  to  colonists  and  Maoris  antagonistic  to  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi.  Earl  Grey 
entirely  dissented  from  the  doctrine  that  aboriginal 
inhabitants  could  have  any  right  to  lands  which  they 
did  not  occupy  and  which  were  "unsubdued  to  the 
uses  of  man;"  and  he  advised  the  Governor  to  take 
steps  forthwith  to  establish  "  the  exclusive  title  of 
the  Crown  to  all  unoccupied  and  waste  land."  He 
had  also,  on  a  former  occasion,  been  indiscreet  enough 
to  refer  to  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi  as  "  injudicious," 
a  phrase  which  was  now  remembered  against  him. 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  159 

This  portion  of  the  charter  caused  much  apprehen- 
sion among  the  natives,  who  were  unusually  well- 
informed  as  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment. Influential  chiefs  wrote  to  the  Queen,  and 
a  large  number  of  colonists,  headed  by  Bishop 
Selwyn  and  Chief  Justice  Martin,  presented  an  ad- 
dress to  Her  Majesty  protesting  against  the  threat- 
ened confiscation  of  lands  which  the  Maoris  regarded 
as  belonging  to  them.  The  missionaries  were  uni- 
versally opposed  to  the  principle  sought  to  be  es- 
tablished. Selwyn  forwarded  through  the  Governor 
to  Earl  Grey  a  somewhat  intemperate  protest,  in 
which  he  declared  his  intention  "  to  use  all  legal  and 
constitutional  measures,  befitting  his  station,  to  in- 
form the  natives  of  New  Zealand  of  their  rights  and 
privileges  as  British  subjects,  and  to  assist  them  in 
asserting  and  maintaining  them,  whether  by  peti- 
tion to  the  Imperial  Parliament,  or  other  loyal  and 
peaceable  methods."  The  Chief  Justice,  an  able 
lawyer  and  a  man  who  took  pains  to  understand  the 
Maori  character,  endangered  his  official  position  by 
writing  a  pamphlet,  which  he  entitled  "  England  and 
the  New  Zealanders,"  and  in  which,  by  a  variety  of 
arguments,  he  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  Instruc- 
tions involved  "  a  breach  of  the  national  faith  of 
Great  Britain,"  which  could  not  fail  to  have  disas- 
trous effects  upon  the  Maoris.  Sir  George  Grey,  al- 
though he  probably  did  not  share  all  the  alarmist 
views  put  forward  by  the  missionaries  and  others, 
saw  good  reason  to  make  a  stand  against  the  Charter 
and  the  Instructions.  He  pointed  out  that  the  Con- 
stitution would  exclude  the  Maoris  from  representa- 
tion, since  but  few  of  them  could  read  and  write 
English;  and  that  it  would  give  to  a  small  European 
minority  the  right  to  impose  taxation  upon  the  Maori 


160  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

majority.  To  confer  upon  4500  colonists  "  such 
extensive  powers "  over  100,000  of  their  fellow 
creatures  would,  in  his  opinion,  be  a  very  hazardous 
experiment,  more  especially  as  the  bulk  of  the  colo- 
nists were  embittered  against  the  Maoris,  and  there- 
fore in  no  mood  to  act  with  impartiality  and  justice. 
He  further  pointed  out  that  the  natives  were  only  to 
a  small  extent  an  agricultural  people;  that  to  de- 
prive them  of  their  waste  lands  would  cut  them  off 
from  their  most  important  means  of  subsistence, 
"  from  fern-roots,  from  fishing,  from  eel-ponds, 
from  hunting  wild  pigs  (for  which  they  require  ex- 
tensive runs)."  When  the  first  protests  reached 
him,  Earl  Grey  asserted  that  his  words  had  been 
misunderstood  and  that  there  was  no  intention  of 
infringing  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi.  This  dis- 
claimer, however,  was  not  taken  seriously  and,  beaten 
at  all  points,  he  had  the  good  sense  to  withdraw  as 
gracefully  as  he  might  from  an  untenable  position. 
On  his  own  responsibility,  the  Governor  had  al- 
ready shelved  the  Constitution,  and  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Colonies  hastened  to  put  through  Par- 
liament an  Act  suspending  for  five  years  a  scheme 
which  he  now  admitted  to  be  impracticable.  Sir 
George  Grey  was  almost  complimented  for  his  diso- 
bedience, and  much  was  said  about  the  advisability 
of  being  guided  by  the  man  on  the  spot,  an  admir- 
able maxim  which  has  been  "  more  honoured  in  the 
breach  than  the  observance."  By  the  act  of  sus- 
pension the  Governor  was  given  large  discretion  in 
the  matter  of  granting  or  withholding  representative 
institutions,  and  he  took  advantage  of  the  powers 
conferred  upon  him  to  pass  a  Provincial  Councils 
Ordinance,  by  virtue  of  which  the  Colony  was  di- 
vided into  two  provinces. — New  Ulster  and  New 


GOVERNOR  GREY.  161 

Minister — each  having  an  Executive  and  Legislative 
Council,  consisting  of  Crown  nominees.  Edward 
John  Eyre,  well  known  in  the  annals  of  Australian 
exploration,  was  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
the  South  Island.  His  position,  however,  was  al- 
together anomalous.  He  had  no  powers,  and  being 
somewhat  impulsive  and  obstinate,  he  was  soon  at 
loggerheads  with  Grey,  who  had  the  common  failing 
of  autocrats,  a  decided  disinclination  to  share  au- 
thority. 

Sir  George  Grey's  action  in  thus  thwarting  the 
desire  of  the  colonists  for  representative  govern- 
ment, produced  wide-spread  dissatisfaction.  At 
Wellington  a  Constitution  Association  was  formed; 
Auckland  settlers  petitioned  for  the  recall  of  the 
Governor,  and  in  almost  every  centre  of  population 
men  wrote  and  spoke  as  if  they  were  groaning  under 
an  Asiatic  despotism.  So  general  was  the  feeling 
of  irritation  that  difficulty  was  experienced  in  get- 
ting men  of  position  to  act  on  the  various 
councils.  Grey  stuck  to  his  guns  without  flinching. 
He  too  often  allowed  himself  to  be  dragged  into 
personal  controversy,  but  neither  intrigue  nor  abuse 
could  force  his  hands ;  and  in  after  days,  when  time 
had  allayed  the  angry  passions  of  the  moment,  men 
were  willing  to  admit  that  what  they  at  first  re^- 
garded  as  obstinacy  was  in  reality  farseeing  and 
judicious  policy. 


162  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTEK  XIV. 

THE   FOUNDATION   OF   OTAQO. 

AT  the  time  of  Grey's  arrival  the  wave  of  coloni- 
sation had  scarcely  touched  the  South  Island.  The 
Nelson  settlement  was,  indeed,  three  years  old  and 
contained  a  population  of  3000,  but  the  rest  of  the 
island,  though  travellers  had  dissipated  the  idea  that 
it  was  f<  bleak  and  cold,  and  not  fit  for  settling,"  was 
untenanted  save  by  a  few  Maoris,  a  handful  of 
whalers  scattered  along  the  coast,  and  a  few  pioneers 
like  John  and  William  Deans,  whose  cattle  roamed 
over  the  plains  in  the  neighbourhood  of  what  is  now 
Christchurch,  and  John  Jones,  who  in  addition  to 
being  a  whaler,  and  merchant,  was  a  farmer  on  a 
large  scale  at  Waikouaiti,  in  Otago.  When  Short- 
land  visited  Waikouaiti  in  1843,  he  was  surprised 
to  find  there  a  thriving  cattle  and  sheep  station,  and 
more  surprised  still  when  he  heard  the  sounds  of  a 
piano  issuing  from  the  homestead  and  was  greeted 
by  a  young  gentleman,  late  of  Cambridge,  who  had 
undertaken  to  impart  the  rudiments  of  a  polite  ed- 
ucation to  Mr.  Jones's  children.  In  1848  about  six 
hundred  acres  had  been  fenced;  100  acres  were  in 
crop;  and  the  live-stock  comprised  100  horses,  200 
head  of  cattle,  and  2000  sheep.  Dr.  Hocken's 
description  of  the  Waikouaiti  settlement  as  it  was  in 
those  days  gives  an  excellent  picture  of  a  bit  of 
Old  New  Zealand.  "Dilapidated,  rickety  little 
huts  dotted  about,  huge  whale-bones  strewn  every- 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO.  163 

where,  savage  pigs  and  dogs  feasting  on  the  refuse 
which  tainted  the  air  with  sickening  greasy  smell, 
whilst  clouds  of  gulls  and  shags  associated  in  the. 
repast;  busy  groups  of  men  cutting  out  and  trying 
out  the  blubber  of  some  recent  prize;  and  boats 
drawn  up  on  the  beach  ready  to  be  launched  at  a 
moment's  notice  after  fresh  quarry."  At  Stewart's 
Island  there  was  a  settlement  of  seventy  white 
people,  some  of  whom  had  begun  to  cultivate  the, 
land ;  and  at  Akaroa  a  few  Frenchmen  were  planting 
vineyards  on  the  hillsides.  Elsewhere  the  South 
Island  was  a  fertile  solitude.  A  few  travellers, 
like  Shortland  and  Selwyn,  had  visited  the  whaling 
stations  and  Maori  villages,  but  their  journeys  were 
always  along  the  seaboard.  From  Banks'  Penin- 
sula and  the  plains,  the  Alps  could  be  seen  gleaming 
in  the  background,  but  no  white  man  had  as  yet  ex- 
plored their  rugged  grandeur.  Shortland  had  seen 
the  beautiful  Taieri  plains,  but  the  interior  of  what 
is  now  called  Otago  was  still  a  wilderness  of  which 
even  adventurous  Maoris  knew  little. 

The  story  of  how  these  solitudes  were  peopled  by 
"  dour "  Presbyterians,  and  by  the)  "  Canterbury 
Pilgrims,"  is  one  of  singular  interest.  Both  Otago 
and  Canterbury  were  church  settlements ;  both  began 
life  under  the  aegis  of  the  New  Zealand  Company; 
and  in  both  the  principles  advocated  by  Gibbon 
Wakefield  were  more  nearly  followed  than  elsewhere. 
To  these  points  of  similarity  it  may  be  added  that 
for  years  to  come  both  Colonies  were  almost  entirely 
pastoral. 

The  long  and  complicated  negotiations  which  pre- 
ceded the  founding  of  Otago  do  not  call  for  lengthy 
treatment.  The  scheme  originated  with  Mr.  George 
Rennie,  a  friend  of  Wakefield  and  a  close  student  of 


164  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

colonising  efforts.  In  1842  lie  wrote  to  the  Di- 
rectors of  the  New  Zealand  Company  suggesting  a 
settlement  in  the  Middle  Island  on  a  plan  which 
contained  several  new  features.  The  Company's 
settlers,  he  pointed  out,  had  hitherto  been  beset  by 
two  serious  difficulties.  In  the  first  place  it  was 
often  impossible  to  procure  Crown  titles  for  the  land 
they  had  purchased  from  the  Company,  and  in  the 
second  place,  in  the  absence  of  proper  arrangements 
for  surveys,  they  were  often  obliged  to  remain  for 
months  under  canvas  before  being  put  in  possession. 
To  remedy  these  defects  Mr.  Rennie  proposed  that 
after  a  site  had  been  selected,  a  body  of  surveyors, 
engineers,  and  labourers  should  be  engaged  to  con- 
duct the  surveys,  build  wharves,  clear  land  for  a 
suburban  farm,  and  make  other  preparations  which 
experience  had  shown  to  be  necessary.  In  this  way 
the  future  colonist  would  be  spared  a  great  deal  of 
hardship  and  discouragement.  The  Directors  ex- 
pressed general  approval  of  the  scheme,  but  their 
own  relations  with  the  Government  were  so  strained 
that  the  negotiations  were  for  the  time-  fruitless. 
Moreover,  Hobson  who  was  now  in  !N"ew  Zealand, 
had  protested  against  the  further  dispersion  of  the 
colonists,  and  the  Colonial  Office,  sharing  his  views, 
threw  cold  water  on  the  idea  of  a  settlement  on  the 
east  coast  of  the  Middle  Island. 

At  this  period  Captain  William  Cargill  and  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Burns — men  who  were  destined  to  be 
the  real  founders  of  Otago — first  came  upon  the 
stage,  and  their  influence  led  to  a  somewhat  radical 
change  in  the  original  plan.  Cargill  was  an  old 
Peninsula  veteran  and  Burns  was  one  of  the  band 
of  ministers  who,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Chal- 
mers, had,  in  1843,  severed  their  connection  withi 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO.  165 

the  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  and  constituted 
themselves  the  Free  Church.  The  New  Zealand 
Company  having  at  length  announced  that  they  had 
made  satisfactory  arrangements  with  the  Govern- 
ment for  securing  titles  to  their  land,  Rennie  and 
Cargill  renewed  their  negotiations.  As  there  was 
now  a  staff  of  surveyors  in  the  Colony  and  as  the 
Company's  agent  could  be  trusted  to  select  a  suitable 
site,  they  were  willing  to  forego  the  conditions  origi- 
nally laid  down  by  Rennie ;  but  they  stipulated  that 
the  settlement  should  be  Scotch  and  Presbyterian, 
and  that  ample  provision  should  be  made  for  relig- 
ious and  educational  purposes.  The  proposal  for 
a  sectarian  and  class  colony  was  no  novelty.  Re- 
ligion had  been  a  very  important  element  in  the 
foundation  of  the  first  English  settlements  in  Ameri- 
ca, and  plans  were  now  on  foot  for  forming  an 
Anglican  colony  in  the  Middle  Island  of  New  Zea- 
land. The  Scotch  scheme  was  warmly  taken  up  by 
the  Free  Church,  with  which  it  became  in  the  end 
entirely  identified;  but  not  before  a  quarrel  had 
taken  place  between  Burns  and  Rennie.  The  lat- 
ter was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  Eree  Church  move- 
ment and  was  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  an  exclusive 
principle,  which,  in  his  opinion,  would  restrict  the 
sale  of  land  by  the  Company.  This  difference  led 
to  his  withdrawal,  and  thereafter  Burns  and  Cargill 
continued  the  struggle  alone.  Cargill  took  up  his 
quarters  in  London,  waiting  wearily  for  a  settlement 
of  the  disputes  between  the  Government  and  the  New 
Zealand  Company;  whilst  Burns,  with  unflagging 
enthusiasm,  preached  the  new  crusade  from  end  to 
end  of  Scotland.  It  was  chiefly  through  his  in- 
fluence that  the  Lay  'Association  was  formed.  It 
consisted  of  prominent  laymen  who  were  connected 


166  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

with  the  Free  Church  and  were  in  sympathy  with 
the  Otago  scheme.  This  body,  formed  in  1845, 
laboured  zealously  in  the  cause,  and  became  hence- 
forth the  responsible  party  in  future  negotiations. 
But  it  was  not  till  1847  that  the  Terms  of  Purchase 
were  finally  agreed  upon.  The  delay  was  due  to  the 
strained  relations  which  still  continued  between  the 
Government  and  the  New  Zealand  Company.  In 
1845  the  latter  obtained  from  Lord  Derby  the  prom- 
ise of  an  unconditional  grant  of  400,000  acres  of 
land  in  Otago,  out  of  which  they  were  to  select  the 
150,000  acres  required  by  the  Lay  Association.  At 
the  same  time  a  loan  of  £100,000  was  granted  to 
recoup  them  for  losses  which,  the  Directors  main- 
tained, were  due  largely  to  the  bad  faith  and  hos- 
tility of  the  Colonial  Office.  With  portion  of  this 
loan  the  Company  undertook  to  carry  out  a  survey 
of  the  Otago  block.  But  the  Government,  repenting 
its  fit  of  generosity,  still  delayed  a  final  settlement. 
In  1846,  however,  the  Peel  Ministry  was  defeated 
and  in  the  new  Prime  Minister,  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell, the  Company  had  a  friend,  who  freely  admitted 
their  claims  and  the  value  of  the  work  they  had  car- 
ried out.  By  an  Act  passed  in  July  1847,  a  further 
loan  of  £136,000  was  advanced  and  it  was  stipulated 
that  if,  at  the  end  of  three  years,  the  Company 
should  be  unable  to  continue  its  operations,  the 
Government  should  suspend  the  Charter  and  take 
over  the  assets.  The  Company  lost  no  time  in  carry- 
ing out  its  arrangements  with  the  Lay  Association. 
Under  the  Terms  of  Purchase  a  property  was  to 
consist  of  a  town  allotment  of  a  quarter  of  an  acre, 
a  suburban  allotment  of  10  acres,  and  50  acres  of 
rural  land.  The  price  was  fixed  at  £2  per  acre. 
Two  thousand  properties  were  set  apart  for  sale  to 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO.  167 

private  individuals,  100  for  local  Municipal  Gov- 
ernment, 100  for  the  Trustees  for  Religious  and 
Educational  uses,  and  200  for  the  New  Zealand 
Company.  Of  the  proceeds  three-eighths  were  to  be 
devoted  to  emigration,  two-eighths  to  surveys,  etc., 
one-eighth  for  religion  and  education,  and  two- 
eighths  were  assigned  to  the  New  Zealand  Company 
to  cover  interest  and  risk. 

In  the  meantime  Colonel  Wakefield,  with  the 
approval  of  Governor  Fitzroy,  had  in  1844  com- 
missioned Frederick  Tuckett,  a  surveyor  and  en- 
gineer who  had  surveyed  the  town  and  suburban 
lands  at  Nelson,  to  examine  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Middle  Island  with  a  view  to  selecting  a  site  for  the 
"New  Edinburgh"  settlement.  He  first  of  all 
visited  Port  Cooper — now  Lyttleton — but  was  not 
impressed  either  with  the  harbour  or  with  the 
swampy  plain  where  John  and  William  Deans  had 
squatted.  From  Port  Cooper  he  sailed  to  Moeraki, 
whence  he  walked  overland  to  Mr.  Jones's  farm  at 
Waikouaiti,  and  then  over  hills  and  through  dense 
forest,  a  two  days'  weary  march,  to  an  inlet  near 
what  is  now  Port  Chalmers.  Here  his  vessel  was 
waiting  at  anchor.  Without  delay  the  party  rowed 
in  a  boat  up  the  inlet  to  Oteputi,  the  site  of  the  fu- 
ture Dunedin.  At  that  time  it  was  a  wilderness  of 
flax  swamp  and  jungle-clad  spurs,  its  "  sole  occu- 
pants being  wekas,  pukekos,  quails,  moreporks,  and 
wild  pigs."  The  Maoris  were  friendly  and  seemed 
much  amused  that  permission  should  be  asked  them 
to  trail  a  chain  along  the  shore.  Delighted  with 
this  spot  and  the  extensive  but  shallow  harbour, 
Tuckett's  party  continued  their  explorations  on  foot 
as  far  south  as  the  Matau  or  Molyneux  where  they 
discovered  a  seam  of  coal,  and  then  taking  ship  pro- 


168  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ceeded  to  the  Bluff  and  Stewart  Island.  On  the 
return  journey  they  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Moly- 
neux  and  explored  the  country  for  some  distance  in- 
land, and  were  thoroughly  satisfied  with  its  possi- 
bilities. Negotiations  with  the  natives  for  the  sale 
of  the  area  of  land  required  were  broken  off  owing 
to  a  difference  between  Tuckett  and  Symonds,  who 
was  acting  on  behalf  of  the  Crown.  At  length 
Colonel  Wakefield  himself  arrived.  After  making 
a  short  tour  of  inspection  he  decided  to  come  to 
terms  at  once  with  the  natives,  who  had  already 
assembled  to  the  number  of  150  at  Koputai  (Port 
Chalmers)  to  receive  the  expected  payment.  The 
price  agreed  upon  for  the  whole  block  of  400,000 
acres  was  £2,400,  which,  contrary  to  Wakefield's 
usual  custom,  was  paid  in  bank  notes,  gold, 
and  silver.  Tuawhaiki — "  Bloody  Jack  " — received 
£900,  Karetai  and  Taiaroa  £300  each,  the  remainder 
being  distributed  among  the  rank  and  file,  men, 
women  and  children. 

The  purchase  completed  to  everybody's  satisfac- 
tion, Wakefield  gave  instructions  for  the  survey  of 
the  block,  but  unfortunately  the  funds  of  the  Com- 
pany were  again  exhausted  and  all  operations  had 
to  be  stayed.  Koputai  was  once  more  a  solitude 
save  for  the  presence  of  a  single  surveyor,  and  two 
families,  the  Andersons  and  McKays,  who  had  been 
attracted  thither  from  Nelson  by  rumours  of  the 
coming  settlement.  For  three  years  they  lived  the 
rude  but  healthy  life  of  pioneers.  There  was  no 
want  of  food  of  a  kind,  for  the  bush  was  full  of  wild 
pigs,  and  their  own  industry  produced  plenty  of 
vegetables.  Fishing  and  quail  shooting  furnished 
ample  sport  and  were  indulged  in  by  the  women  as 
well  as  the  men.  Their  boating  excursions  often 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO.  169 

led  them  to  Oteputi,  where  two  runaway  sailors  had 
built  a  hut.  In  February,  1846,  the  loneliness 
which  hung  heavily  upon  them,  was  pleasantly 
broken  by  the  arrival  of  another  party  of  surveyors 
under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Kettle.  Contracts  were 
let  for  the  survey  of  the  whole  Otago  block — Otago 
was  originally  Otakou,  the  Maori  name  for  a  small 
district  within  the  Heads — and  before  the  end  of  the 
year  both  Port  Chalmers  and  Dunedin  had  been 
laid  out,  the  streets  being  named  after  those  of  Edin- 
burgh or  Leith.  Everything  was  now  ready  for  the 
future  colonists. 

The  pioneer  ships  were  the  John  WicJcliffe  and 
the  Philip  Laing.  The  former  carried  most  of  the 
stores  and  implements  for  the  various  trades,  as  well 
as  a  supply  of  money  in  gold  and  silver.  Captain 
Cargill  was  in  charge  of  the  ninety-seven  emigrants. 
The  Philip  Laing  carried  247  emigrants,  over  whom 
Burns  and  Blackie,  the  schoolmaster,  exercised  a 
somewhat  rigorous  discipline.  The  parting  at 
Greenock  was  conducted  with  grave  solemnity,  with 
prayers  and  the  singing  of  psalms ;  and  on  the  long 
voyage  to  the  Antipodes,  these  stern  descendants  of 
the  Covenanters  attended  two  religious  services  a  day, 
as  well  as  the  Schoolmaster's  classes,  and  for  relaxa- 
tion were  content  with  singing  hymns  or  the  national 
songs  of  Scotland. 

The  John  WicJcliffe  reached  Port  Chalmers  on  the 
23rd  of  March  1848  and  the  PhiUp  Laing  on  the 
15th  of  April,  but  it  was  some  time  before  all  the 
women  and  children  were  removed  to  the  embryo 
Dunedin.  There  they  were  housed  in  long  bar- 
racks, made  of  rushes  and  flax  chiefly.  The  whole 
settlement  looked  like  a  gipsy  camp.  True  to  the 
design  of  the  founders,  one  of  the  first  cares  of  the 


170  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

little  colony  was  to  appoint  Trustees  for  Religious 
and  Educational  uses,  a  church  and  school-house  be- 
ing erected  without  delay.  By  degrees  selections 
were  allotted  and  the  settlers  built  themselves  huts  of 
"  wattle  and  daub,"  with  clay  floor  and  divided  into 
"  but  and  ben,"  and  when  comfortably  housed  they 
Bet  to  work  to  clear  the  land  for  cultivation,  in  all 
of  which  labours  they  lent  each  other  a  helping  hand. 
Governor  Grey  had  sent  a  magistrate  with  a  sergeant, 
a  corporal  and  four  privates;  but  for  some  time  he 
had  nothing  to  do,  crime  being  confined  to  occasional 
over-indulgence  in  liquor.  The  first  prison  was  a 
tent,  which  later  on  was  replaced  by  a  wooden  struc- 
ture hardly  more  secure.  Of  the  gaoler,  Johnny 
Barr,  it  is  told  that  he  sometimes  let  his  prisoners  out 
for  a  holiday  with  the  injunction  to  be  back  by  eight 
o'clock,  on  pain  of  being  locked  out!  Mr.  Sidney 
Stephen,  who  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  in  1850 
at  a  salary  of  £800  a  year,  had  on  three  occasions  an 
empty  dock,  and  was  so  obviously  a  luxury  that  he 
was  soon  removed.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Otago 
was  not  reopened  till  1858. 

By  October,  1848,  the  settlement  contained  a 
population  of  444  souls,  and  88  houses  had  been 
erected.  Other  emigrants  were  arriving,  some  of 
them  possessed  of  independent  means;  but  progress 
was  not  rapid,  the  opening  up  of  the  country  dis- 
tricts being  retarded  by  the  absence  of  roads  and 
bridges,  for  the  construction  of  which  no  funds  were 
available.  The  little  Colony  was  soon  torn  by  feuds. 
Visitors  described  it  as  a  nest  of  cantankerous  ex- 
clusionists,  or  "  as  a  fenced  enclosure  in  which  un- 
happy and  spiteful  creatures,  like  strange  cats,  were 
endeavouring  to  tear  each  other's  eyes  out."  Griev- 
ances were  numerous.  The  New  Zealand  Company 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO. 

was  fast  approaching  the  end  of  its  stormy  career. 
It  had  spent  a  large  sum  of  money  on  Otago  with 
little  return,  for  the  sale  of  land  had  not  come  up  to 
expectations;  and  its  financial  insecurity  was  re- 
garded by  the  Association  as  one  of  the  prime  causes 
of  the  slow  progress  of  the  Colony.  But  the  demise 
of  the  Company  made  no  difference.  Purchasers 
were  repelled  by  the  high  price  of  the  land  and  by 
the  high  rate  of  wages ;  and  a  good  many  people  were 
deterred  from  settling  in  the  Colony  by  the  well- 
known  desire  of  its  leaders  to  keep  it  Scotch  and 
Presbyterian. 

In  these  circumstances  the  settlers  entered  lustily 
into  the  agitation  for  reform  and  self-government. 
The  suspension  of  the  Constitution  Bill  was  received 
with  bitter  denunciation  and  a  Settlers'  Association 
was  formed  to  agitate  for  representative  institutions. 
The  Government  was  thoroughly  unpopular  and  all 
who  supported  it  were  held  up  to  ridicule  in  the  local 
press.  Nothing  is  more  singular  in  these  young 
Anglo-Saxon  communities  than  their  detestation  of 
anything  like  autocratic  rule.  No  matter  how  small 
the  population  may  be,  their  first  ambition  is  to  ob- 
tain the  privilege  of  managing  their  own  affairs,  and 
qf  setting  up  a  miniature  parliament  of  their  own. 
The  Imperial  Government,  which  has  to  consider 
not  only  the  claims  of  its  own  people  but  also  those 
'of  aboriginal  races  and  the  necessities  of  an  Empire 
consisting  of  more  or  less  independent  colonies,  has 
often  been  compelled  to  take  up  an  attitude  appar- 
ently hostile  to  these  aspirations  after  self-govern- 
ment, and  for  so  doing  it  has  been  the  recipient  of 
much  unmerited  abuse.  In  the  case  of  Otago  and 
other  provinces  of  New  Zealand,  it  is  by  no  means 
certain  that  the  granting  of  representative  institu- 


172  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

tions  a  few  years  earlier  would  have  had  any  marked 
effect  on  the  progress  of  settlement.  The  future  de- 
velopment of  Otago  came  from  the  gradual  influx 
of  immigrants;  from  a  simple  modification  of  the 
land  regulations  by  virtue  of  which  land  could  be 
bought  at  10s.  an  acre,  with  the  expenditure  of 
further  sums  of  10s.  a  year  for  three  years  upon 
improvements,  and  which  enabled  squatters  to  take 
up  large  areas  on  pastoral  licenses;  and  from  the 
opportune  discovery  of  gold  in  1861.  The  founders 
had  contemplated  a  settlement  of  small  farmers,  but 
in  New  Zealand  as  in  Australia  it  was  soon  perceived 
that  the  first  stage  in  industrial  progress  must  be 
pastoral  rather  than  agricultural.  Pastoralism  was 
more  profitable  and  it  did  not  require  the  same  ex- 
penditure of  money  upon  public  works.  Sir  George 
Grey's  land  regulations  intended  to  throw  open  the 
lands  of  the  Colony  at  prices  varying  from  5s.  to 
10s.  an  acre  had  been  the  subject  of  much  acrimo- 
nious criticism  in  Otago  as  well  as  Canterbury.  In 
these  settlements  land  could  not  be  disposed  of  at 
less  than  £2  an  acre,  and  many  felt  that  by  reducing 
the  price  elsewhere  the  Governor  was  striking  di- 
rectly at  the  prosperity  of  the  Southern  Colonies, 
with  which,  as  class  settlements,  he  was  supposed  to 
have  little  sympathy.  In  all  probability  he  had  no 
such  motive.  He  realised,  as  did  the  Otago  people 
afterwards,  that  cheap  land  was  a  necessity  of  the 
hour.  It  led,  of  course,  to  the  creation  of  large  sheep 
runs,  held  partly  on  pasture  licenses  and  partly  pur- 
chased on  the  system  known  as  "  grid-ironing "  or 
"  picking  the  eyes  out  of  the  land."  At  the  end  of 
the  century  these  estates  are  now  being  "  burst " 
up  in  the  interests  of  closer  settlement,  but  they 
served  their  turn  by  enabling  the  settlers  to  utilise 


THE  FOUNDATION  OF  OTAGO.  173 

country  which  otherwise  would  have  remained  for 
years  an  untrodden  waste.  The  squatters  "  trek- 
king "  into  the  interior  with  their  sheep  and  cattle, 
forcing  their  way  laboriously  through  swamp  and 
bush  and  over  rugged  mountains,  where  neither 
road  nor  track  existed,  and  yet  claiming  little  from 
the  government  save  elbow-room,  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  prosperity  in  New  Zealand  as  well  as  in 
Australia,  and  those  of  them  who  are  now  living 
may  be  pardoned  if  they  grumble  a  little  at  a  policy 
which  has  rendered  necessary  the  cutting  up  of 
their  broad  estates. 

The  story  of  the  early  years  of  the  Otago  settle- 
ment is  not  wanting  in  humorous  aspects.  The 
people  were  not  only  provincial;  they  were  in  addi- 
tion perversely  Scotch  and  Presbyterian,  and  for 
years  fought  against  the  intrusion  of  settlers  that 
did  not  hail  from  the  land  of  cakes.  They  lived  in 
an  atmosphere  of  Shorter  Catechism,  of  national 
prejudices,  and  petty  wranglings.  But,  for  all  their 
narrowness,  they  were  good  colonists;  stiff  and  un- 
compromising, but  shirking  none  of  the  hardships 
and  responsibilities  which  fell  to  their  lot  as  pioneers. 

At  the  end  of  ten  years  substantial  progress  had 
been  made.  The  revenue  was  £46,000,  most  of 
which  was  spent  on  roads  and  bridges,  and  the  popu- 
lation had  grown  from  a  few  hundreds  to  over  7000, 
the  great  majority  of  whom  were  settled  in  the 
country  districts.  Thanks  chiefly  to  the  enterprise 
of  Mr.  Macandrew,  steamships  had  already  made 
their  appearance  on  the  coast,  and  contributed 
greatly  to  the  development  of  trade.  The  political 
education  of  the  people  was  being  carried  on  by  the 
system  of  Provincial  Government  inaugurated  in 
1853.  The  local  parliament,  which  consisted  at  first 


PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

of  only  nine  members,  abated  nothing  of  the  formal 
dignity  of  larger  assemblies,  though  the  exigencies 
of  colonial  life  sometimes  rendered  it  difficult  to 
maintain  the  decorum  that  was  thought  necessary. 
Dr.  Hocken  relates  an  amusing  story  of  these  early 
assemblies.  The  daughter  of  one  of  the  members,  a 
local  tailor,  broke  in  upon  the  sanctity  of  the  meet' 
ing,  and  rushing  up  to  her  father,  exclaimed: 
"  Father,  father,  Jimmy  Broon  has  ca'ed  for  his 
breeks !  "  An  exclamation  which  might  furnish  an 
excellent  title  for  a  chapter  dealing  with  the  eccen-' 
tricities  of  Provincialism  in  New  Zealand. 


•*  1 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS.  175 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    CANTERBURY    PILQRIMS. 

EQUALLY  interesting,  and  from  certain  points  of 
view  equally  amusing,  is  the  story  of  the  "  Canter- 
bury Pilgrims."  They  were  the  fine  flower  of 
English  society  and  they  brought  to  the  work  of  colon- 
isation such  earnestness  and  such  variety  of  knowl- 
edge and  culture  that  satirists  hailed  their  appear- 
ance with  delight.  There  was,  indeed,  not  a  little 
that  was  Utopian  and  dreamy  in  their  plans;  and  it 
says  much  for  the  adaptability  and  stamina  of  the 
Pilgrims  that  they  survived  the  lofty  ambitions  with 
which  they  set  out.  The  Canterbury  Association 
consisted  of  what  the  newspapers  might  term  a 
"  galaxy "  of  noble  lords,  bishops,  and  gentlemen, 
enamoured  of  the  patriotic  idea  of  founding  a  colony 
which  should  really  represent  what  was  best  and 
greatest  in  English  society.  Their  inspiration  and 
the  first  draft  of  their  scheme  came  from  that  "  san- 
guine, enthusiastic  projector,"  Edward  Gibbon 
Wakefield.  The  Canterbury  settlement  was  to  be 
the  magnum  opus  of  his  life,  and  the  complete  real- 
isation of  dreams  which  ever  haunted  him.  It  was 
also  to  be  the  last  effort  of  the  ~N"ew  Zealand  Com- 
pany, which,  unable  to  repay  Parliamentary  loans  to 
the  amount  of  £236,000,  was  obliged  in  July,  1850, 
to  surrender  its  charter  and  property  to  the  Crown. 
During  the  eleven  years  of  its  existence,  it  had  ex- 
pended nearly  a  million  pounds,  and  when  the 


176  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

charter  was  relinquished,  its  debts  to  the  shareholders 
and  to  the  Government  amounted  to  £492,852.  Its 
assets  were  stated  to  be  a  million  acres  of  land  in 
New  Zealand,  but  to  a  large  part  of  this  territory 
the  native  claim  had  not  yet  been  extinguished. 
The  directors  were  treated  more  generously  than 
they  deserved.  By  the  New  Zealand  Settlement 
Act  passed  in  1850,  their  debt  to  the  Government 
was  cancelled,  and  they  were  allowed  five  shillings 
per  acre,  £268,370  in  all  for  their  landed  estate. 
The  Constitution  Act  of  1852  saddled  the  Colony 
with  the  payment  of  this  sum,  one-fourth  of  all  lands 
sold  being  appropriated  for  that  purpose.  The 
Colonists  groaned  under  the  burden,  and  the  di- 
rectors offered  to  cancel  the  debt  on  the  immediate 
payment  of  £200,000.  The  money  was  borrowed 
by  the  New  Zealand  Assembly,  and  the  Provinces  of 
the  Middle  Island  undertook  to  pay  it  off,  on  condi- 
tion that  their  own  revenue  should  not  be  used  for 
purchasing  native  land. 

The  Association  was  incorporated  by  Royal 
Charter  in  November  1849.  Its  aims  were  to  create 
a  colony  which  should  be  an  extension  of  England 
"  with  regard  to  the  more  refined  attributes  of  civi- 
lisation ;  "  a  colony  in  which  ladies  and  gentlemen 
might  find  a  home  in  which  none  of  the  refinements 
and  amenities  of  English  life  should  be  wanting. 
The  colonists  were  to  be  English  gentlemen  fond  of 
rural  pursuits;  younger  sons  of  noblemen  or  gen- 
tlemen of  fortune ;  the  better  class  of  tenant  farmers ; 
and  the  "  masses  "  were  to  be  represented  by  picked 
persons  willing  to  work  for  wages  as  farm  labourers, 
shepherds,  stockmen,  and  mechanics,  and  by  a 
variety  of  small  capitalists,  storekeepers  and  others. 
Nothing  was  to  be  left  to  chance.  The  farmers, 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS. 

labourers,  and  storekeepers  were  not  to  be  recruited 
from  the  city  slums,  as  had  been  too  often  the  case 
in  other  schemes  of  colonisation,  but  to  be  chosen  on 
the  recommendation  of  gentlemen  promoters  or  in- 
tending colonists.  Above  all,  the  Pilgrims  must  be 
good  Churchmen,  for  Canterbury  was  to  be  English 
and  Episcopalian.  A  bishop  designate  (the  Rev. 
Thomas  Jackson)  and  five  clergymen  were  to  ac- 
company the  emigrants,  and  magnificent  plans  were 
formed  of  episcopal  palaces,  colleges,  and  churches. 
To  secure  funds  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  scheme 
the  price  of  land  was  fixed  at  £3  per  acre.  The 
proceeds  were  to  be  divided  as  follows:  10  shillings 
to  the  government  for  public  purposes;  10  shillings 
for  survey,  roads,  and  general  administration;  20 
shillings  for  emigration;  and  20  shillings  for  relig- 
ious and  educational  purposes.  The  first  purchasers 
were  to  have  the  privilege  of  occupying  pastoral  runs 
on  lease:  a  judicious  arrangement  which  attracted 
practical  sheep-farmers  from  Australia  as  well  as 
from  England. 

When  it  was  decided  to  select  the  Canterbury 
plains  as  the  scene  of  operations,  the  Association 
scattered  broadcast  over  England  pamphlets  con- 
taining information  as  to  their  plans,  advice  to  emi- 
grants, and  answ.ers  to  objections  raised  by  sceptical 
persons.  These  "  Canterbury  Papers,"  as  they  were 
called,  bore  the  Tennysonian  motto: 

"  A  land  there  lies 

Now  void  ;  it  fits  thy  people  :  thither  bend 
Thy  course  ;  there  shalt  thou  find  a  lasting  seat ; 
There  to  thy  sons  shall  many  Englands  rise  ; 
And  states  be  born  of  thee." 

They  even  included  effusions  from  the  estimable 
Martin  Tupper.  There  breathed  through  them,  in- 

M 


178  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

deed,  a  spirit  of  culture,  and  a  dignified  unworldli- 
ness,  which  made  rough  old  pioneers  put  their 
tongues  in  their  cheeks.  The  wags  exhausted  their 
raillery  upon  the  "  spectacle  of  a  British  bishop 
going  forth  at  the  head  of  the  inhabitants  of  his 
future  diocese,  and  inculcating  perfect  reliance  on 
their  prayer  book  and  priest."  Some  ridiculed  the 
future  colony  as  a  "  slice  of  England  from  top  to 
bottom,  from  a  bishop  to  a  domestic  fowl;"  others, 
fastening  upon  the  High  Church  leanings  of  several 
of  the  promoters,  made  merry  over  what  they  termed 
a  "  Puseyite  descent "  upon  New  Zealand.  Perhaps 
the  most  scathing  of  these  humorous  attacks  came 
from  the  pen  of  Sydney  Smith,  who  wrote: 

"  The  augurs,  it  is  said,  laughed  in  each  other's 
face  in  the  Roman  streets.  We  wonder  what  the 
parsons  will  do  when  they  read  this  modest  pros- 
pectus. We  are  curious  to  know  how  economists 
expect  a  settlement  to  thrive,  which,  at  its  very  outset, 
throws  away  a  third  of  its  whole  capital  on  its  idlers 
and  non-producers,  and  sends  another  third  off  to  the 
Mother  Country  before  it  begins  to  work.  In  one 
sense  a  man  does  well  to  part  with  everything  to 
save  his  soul ;  but  what  are  we  to  think  of  a  Church 
which,  at  every  step  of  its  progress,  practically  states 
its  belief  that  the  salvation  of  men  is  an  affair  of 
money,  and  thrusts  itself  into  every  scheme  for  bet- 
tering the  human  race,  with  a  demand  for  a  third  of 
the  hard-earned  labour  of  the  industrious?  We  en- 
tertain all  due  respect  for  the  ecclesiastical  zeal  by 
which  the  Canterbury  speculators  are  deceived  into 
the  idea  of  its  excellence.  But  as  a  commercial 
scheme,  we  emphatically  denounce  it  as  a  bubble, 
phlebotomising  the  poor,  and  blistering  the  rich 
simpletons  who  listen  to  the  project  for  one  moment 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS.  179 

We  earnestly  advise  the  colonists  to  guard  the  issues 
of  taxation.  Let  them  not  submit  to  be  taxed  and 
burdened  beforehand,  and  unconsciously  to  saddle 
themselves  with  an  extravagant  established  church, 
rendered  by  their  own  folly  entirely  independent  of 
all  popular  control.  Have  nothing  to  do  with  this 
Canterbury.  Its  beginning  is  radically  unsound, 
and  it  will  end  in  failure  and  folly.  Bishops,  arch- 
deacons, and  parsons  are  not  settlers.  After  they 
have  amassed  a  competency,  they  will  carry  it  away 
from  the  colony.  They  are  not  improvers.  They 
will  produce  nothing." 

The  Association  gravely  assured  its  traducers  that 
their  scheme  was  not  a  Puseyite  affair,  and  that  the 
colonists  were  not  to  be  priest-ridden.  It  does  not 
matter  much  now,  for  a  year  in  Canterbury  knocked 
on  the  head  the  dreams  of  superior  visionaries,  and 
the  Pilgrims — except  a  few  who  fled  at  sight  of  the 
"  void "  plains  whose  praises  had  been  sung  with 
so  much  fervour — were  ready  enough  to  join  in  the 
laugh  against  themselves.  Practical  matters  were 
not  overlooked  entirely.  Captain  Thomas  was  sent 
out  as  agent  and  surveyor,  and,  in  1850,  Mr.  Godley, 
appointed  agent  and  administrator,  was  despatched 
to  complete  arrangements  for  the  reception  of  the 
first  settlers.  He  was  surprised  at  the  progress  al- 
ready made  at  Port  Cooper.  A  wooden  jetty  had 
been  built,  several  emigration  barracks  erected,  as 
well  as  boat-sheds,  and  a  house  for  the  agent.  The 
town  had  been  surveyed,  and  a  number  of  wooden 
houses  had  been  put  up  by  adventurers  from  other 
colonies,  who  had  obtained  permission  to  "  squat." 
Two  public  houses,  essential  concomitants  of  every 
new  British  settlement,  were  already  in  existence. 
A  track  had  also  been  formed  across  the  hills  to  the 


180  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Plains,  the  only  occupants  of  which  were  the  Deans 
brothers.  Godley  rode  over  to  their  farm  and  was 
much  impressed  by  the  flourishing  condition  in 
which  he  found  them.  They  had  1500  sheep,  300 
cattle,  30  or  40  horses,  and  their  garden  was  well 
stocked  with  vegetables  and  English  fruit  trees,  all 
of  which  throve  remarkably  well.  Near  their  farm 
was  a  small  piece  of  bush,  sole  relic  of  a  forest  which 
at  one  time  must  have  covered  all  the  low-lying 
country  round  the  hills  of  the  Peninsula.  With  the 
exception  of  these  Scotch  pioneers,  fifty  Frenchmen 
at  Akaroa,  a  few  settlers  scattered  about  the  various 
inlets  of  the  Peninsula,  and  a  few  hundred  Maoris, 
Canterbury  was  absolutely  void,  except  of  pos- 
sibilities. 

About  the  middle  of  1850,  the  Association,  having 
matured  its  plans,  chartered  four  ships  to  convey 
the  first  batch  of  Pilgrims  to  the  Land  of  Promise. 
The  names  of  these  first  ships  deserve  to  live  in  New 
Zealand  story.  They  were  the  Randolph,  the  Sir 
George  Seymour,  the  Cressyt,  the  Charlotte  Jane. 
The  immigrants  numbered  800,  307  being  cabin 
passengers,  a  circumstance  which  the  promoters 
noted  with  pride.  A  dinner  was  given  on  board  the 
Randolph  to  the  saloon  passengers,  and  the  labourers 
were  regaled  separately  on  roast  beef,  plum  pudding, 
and  beer.  Sermons  were  not  wanting,  but  the  Eng- 
lish Pilgrims,  less  serious  than  the  "  Old  Identi- 
ties "  who  founded  Otago,  took  their  leave  of  Eng- 
land with  dancing  and  music.  The  first  ships  en- 
tered Port  Cooper  on  the  16th  of  December  (1850), 
and  were  welcomed  by  Godley,  and  by  Sir  George 
and  Lady  Grey  who  had  come  down  for  the  oc- 
casion. Luckily  the  weather  was  bright  and  sunny, 
and  the  Pilgrims  gazed  with  satisfaction  upon  the 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS.  181 

tawny  hills  which  surrounded  the  Port  and  the 
comfortable  quarters  which  had  been  prepared  for 
them.  In  a  few  days  many  of  them  had  footed 
it  across  the  hills  to  the  Plains  where  Christchurch 
was  soon  to  rise.  The  panorama  which  met  their 
gaze  when  they  reached  the  hilltop,  produced  di- 
verse impressions.  Looking  back  they  saw  below 
them  a  landlocked,  embayed  harbour,  wooded  val- 
leys, and  a  toy  township  snugged  in  a  hollow ;  before 
them  lay  a  vast  plain,  level  as  a  billiard  table,  a 
straw-coloured,  treeless  waste,  the  monotony  of  which 
was  only  broken  by  here  and  there  a  gleaming  bend 
of  river,  by  stretches  of  flax  swamps,  or  by  clumps 
of  manuka  scrub.  To  the  west  was  a  long  line  of 
snow-topped  peaks,  the  Snowy  Mountains,  and 
stretching  northward  into  the  dim  distance,  a  curv- 
ing sandy  beach  on  which  the  Pacific  broke  in  great 
swaths  of  foam.  No  sign  of  life  was  anywhere 
visible.  Many  were  disappointed.  This  dreary, 
wind-swept  void  was  not  the  Paradise  their  fancy 
had  painted.  Probably  few  of  them  realised  what 
a  difference  twenty-five  years  would  make.  Where 
the  Avon  and  the  Heathcote  meandered  sluggishly 
through  swamp  and  tussock-flats,  or  round  barren 
sand-dunes,  their  own  industry  was  soon  to  plant  a 
beautiful  city,  misnamed  the  "  City  of  Magnificent 
Distances,"  for  Christchurch  is  "half  revealed  and 
half  concealed  "  by  groves  of  Australian  gum-trees, 
of  English  oaks  and  elms,  and  by  miles  of  weeping- 
willows  edging  circuitous  streams.  Instead  of  tus- 
socky  desolation  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  the 
Pilgrim  twenty-five  years  afterwards  saw  a  succes- 
sion of  green  meadows,  with  hedges  of  hawthorn  or 
furze,  and  neat  villas  nestling  in  the  midst  of  trees. 
It  was  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  in  those  days  to 


182  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

get  heavy  goods  from  Port  Lyttleton  (so  called  after 
Lord  Lyttleton,  one  of  the  most  prominent  members 
of  the  Association)  to  Christchurch,  for  at  first  there 
was  only  a  bridle  track  across  the  hills.  A  good 
dray  road  was  soon  made,  however,  and,  later  on, 
sailing  boats  and  small  steamers  came  round  from 
Lyttleton  and,  crossing  the  bar  at  Sumner,  landed 
goods  at  the  ferry  over  the  Heathcote.  Before  the 
end  of  the  year  1851,  2600  colonists  had  arrived, 
and  on  the  banks  of  the  Avon  many  neat  wooden 
buildings  were  scattered  about ;  a  church  and  school- 
room, as  well  as  two  parsonages,  being  among  the 
number. 

During  1852  the  Avon  was  bridged  and  consider- 
able sums  of  money  spent  on  roads.  The  settlers 
had  already  leased  Y00,000  acres  within  the  Canter- 
bury Block  and  sheep  and  cattle  were  spreading 
over  the  plains.  At  the  end  of  the  year  the  popu- 
lation had  increased  to  3400;  5000  acres  had  been 
fenced;  and  the  live  stock  comprised  50,000  sheep, 
3000  cattle  and  300  horses — creditable  progress  for 
two  years. 

It  had  not  all  been  plain  sailing,  however.  Many 
bubbles  had  burst,  harmlessly  for  the  most  part. 
The  ecclesiastical  arrangements  were  found  too  elab- 
orate for  the  wants  of  the  country.  The  bishop  desig- 
nate had  fled  at  the  end  of  six  weeks;  and  some  of 
the  clergy  had  followed  him.  Although  schools  were 
established  from  the  outset,  the  colleges  and  palaces 
were  not  yet.  Socially,  moreover,  things  had  got  a 
good  deal  mixed.  The  one  noble  lord  who  had  em- 
barked his  fortunes  in  Canterbury,  found  Sydney 
more  to  his  tastes ;  and  other  purely  decorative  per- 
sons soon  discovered  that  colonising  meant  "  rough- 
ing it/'  and  silently  took  return  tickets  for  civilisa- 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS.  183 

tion.  Not  a  few,  gentle  and  simple,  grumbled  loudly 
that  they  had  been  deceived.  They  expected  more 
from  the  Association,  and  yet  the  Association  had 
been  extravagant.  Some  abused  the  climate,  which 
was  neither  so  sunny  nor  so  mild  as  they  had  been 
led  to  expect.  "  Dear  me,"  exclaimed  a  lady  who 
had  recently  landed  and  was  being  conducted  over 
the  bridle-path  by  a  friend,  "  does  it  always  blow 
like  this  ?  "  "  Oh  dear  no,"  was  the  reply,  "  it  gen- 
erally blows  a  great  deal  harder !  "  Others  found 
the  conditions  uncongenial.  They  had  expected  an 
Arcadian  life,  in  which  the  greatest  hardship  would 
be  "  reclining  under  a  shady  rock  and  soothing  their 
fleecy  charges  with  the  shepherd's  pipe."  These 
people  found  that  riding  after  sheep  and  cattle, 
and  camping  out  at  night  with  a  saddle  for  pillow, 
were  far  from  Arcadian.  Mutton,  damper,  and  tea 
three  times  a  day  were  monotonous  and  depressing. 
Some  of  the,  first  Pilgrims  had  "  grand  notions," 
which  a  little  experience  quickly  dissipated.  One 
family  had  brought  out  with  them  an  English  car- 
riage; it  was  laid  aside  as  more  than  a  seven  days' 
wonder,  and  its  owners  were  content  to  take  their 
pleasure  in  a  bullock  dray,  the  only  means  of  con- 
veyance in  a  roadless  country. 

Disappointed  colonists  did  their  best  to  damp  the 
ardour  of  others.  They  published  peevish  letters  in 
the  Home  papers,  and  they  went  so  far  as  to  board 
newly  arrived  immigrant  ships  with  tales  that  pro- 
duced gloom  and  consternation.  A  good  story  is 
told  of  how  the  Scotch  pioneer,  John  Deans,  out- 
witted some  of  these  birds  of  ill-omen.  The  passen- 
gers of  a  ship  by  which  he  had  returned  from  a  visit 
to  Scotland  were  told,  on  their  arrival,  that  the  soil 
of  the  country  was  so  barren  and  the  climate  so  se- 


184      PROGRESS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND. 

vere  that  no  fruits  could  be  got  to  ripen.  Gulled  by 
these  stories,  they  made,  like  the  cat  in  the  fairy 
story,  faces  like  a  rainy  day,  and  cursed  the  ill-luck 
which  had  lured  them  to  so  inhospitable  a  land. 
Next  day  when  they  sat  down  to  their  cuddy  dinner 
the  steward  placed  on  the  table  "  an  enormous  bough 
loaded  with  highly-flavoured  plums,"  which  Deans 
had  procured  from  his  garden  at  Riccarton,  with  the 
special  purpose  of  curing  the  "  new  chums  "  of  their 
fit  of  depression. 

The  great  majority,  however,  cheerfully  made  the 
best  of  things,  or  "  ate  their  tutu,"  as  the  phrase 
went.  Fine  gentlemen  who  had  never  done  a  day's 
manual  labour,  scholars  fresh  from  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  became  literally  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water,  and  throve  on  hard  work  and  plain 
diet.  Nothing  came  amiss  to  them.  They  made 
fences,  of  post  and  rail  or  sod,  built  houses,  drove 
bullocks,  trudged  wearily  but  manfully  behind  the 
slow-going  merino.  They  had  many  things  to  be 
grateful  for.  There  was  no  native  question,  there 
was  no  bush  to  clear,  and  the  native  grasses  were 
sufficient  to  keep  a  sheep  or  two  to  the  acre.  As  for 
the  farmer,  he  had  but  to  plough  the  land  and  sow 
his  crop. 

When  the  Australian  gold  fever  was  at  its  highest, 
hundreds  of  able-bodied  colonists  left  New  Zealand. 
The  Canterbury  settlement  suffered  heavily;  but 
the  loss  was  to  some  extent  made  good  by  immigra- 
tion. Moreover,  when  the  excitement  had  died  down, 
many  Australian  pastoralists  came  to  Canterbury, 
and  by  their  energy  and  experience  contributed  much 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  settlement.  In  1853  Can- 
terbury was  proclaimed  one  of  the  six  Provinces 
of  New  Zealand,  and  the  Provincial  Council,  con- 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS.  185 

sisting  of  twelve  members,  held  its  first  session.  Mr. 
James  Fitzgerald,  the  first  Pilgrim  to  land  on  Can- 
terbury soil,  was  elected  Superintendent.  For  the 
first  few  years  the  Council  was  occupied  with  immi- 
gration, public  works,  with  land  legislation,  educa- 
tion, and  negotiations  for  the  winding  up  of  the 
Association.  Mr.  R.  Harman,  in  1854,  sailed  to 
England  as  immigration  agent,  and  succeeded  in 
despatching  to  the  colony  many  desirable  settlers. 
The  public  works  policy  was  directed  to  improving 
the  means  of  communication  with  the  Port,  and  to 
forming  roads  in  and  around  Christchurch.  A  great 
deal  of  land  outside  the  original  Canterbury  block 
was  purchased  at  10s.  an  acre,  a  consequence  of 
Grey's  ordinance  reducing  the  price  of  land  to  that 
sum.  The  Council  was  opposed  to  this  reduction, 
and,  in  1855,  passed  a  Provincial  ordinance  by  which 
waste  land  throughout  the  Province  could  be  sold  at 
10s.  an  acre,  an  additional  80s.  an  acre  being  exacted 
for  local  purposes.  The  apparent  object  of  this  ap- 
portionment of  the  purchase  money  was  to  limit  the 
amount  that  could  be  claimed  by  the  Central  Gov- 
ernment in  connection  with  land  sales.  Education 
had  always  been  an  important  feature  of  the  Can- 
terbury scheme,  and,  although  it  was  found  impos- 
sible to  carry  out  the  original  programme,  every 
effort  was  made  to  provide  the  settlers  with  good 
schools  both  for  girls  and  boys.  Four  years  after 
the  founding  of  the  colony,  Christ's  College  was 
incorporated.  It  was  framed  on  the  model  of  an 
English  Public  School,  with  an  upper  department 
for  the  training  of  young  clergymen,  and  perhaps 
no  school  in  the  colonies  has  had  a  wider  influence 
or  has  established  more  wholesome  traditions  than 
this  "  Eton  of  New  Zealand."  The  same  year  wit- 


186       PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

nessed  the  decease  of  the  Canterbury  Association. 
Like  its  parent,  the  New  Zealand  Company,  it  soon 
found  that  colonisation  was  an  expensive  business. 
Fortunately,  the  Province  which  it  created  was  now 
in  a  satisfactory  position,  and  the  Council  grace- 
fully took  upon  itself  the  debt  which  the  founders 
had  incurred. 

By  1857  the  population  had  increased  to  6230. 
The  majority  of  the  people  belonged  to  the  Church 
of  England,  but  the  exclusive  principle  was  never 
asserted  in  practice.  Christchurch  bears  the  marks 
of  its  ecclesiastical  and  Anglican  origin:  it  is  the 
"  Cathedral  City  " ;  but  Wesleyans,  Presbyterians, 
Roman  Catholics,  gained  a  footing  without  let  or 
hindrance.  Free-trade  was  soon  the  rule  in  religion 
and  nationality.  The  great  industry  was  pastoral- 
ism.  All  over  the  plains,  squatters  had  established 
themselves  and  the  more  enterprising  of  them  grazed 
their  flocks  on  the  foothills  and  among  the  valleys 
of  the  mountains.  The  Province  now  boasted  276,- 
029  sheep.  The  wool  was  of  better  quality  and  the 
fleece  heavier  than  those  produced  in  the  more  tor- 
rid climate  of  Australia.  The  only  drawback  was 
the  prevalence  of  scab,  which  stringent  laws,  how- 
ever, did  much  to  keep  under.  The  squatters  were  a 
fine  race,  well  educated,  manly,  and  hospitable.  At 
a  sheep  station  the  traveller  could  always  get  a 
"  shake  down  "  for  the  night,  and  refreshment  for 
himself  and  his  horse.  Agriculture,  though  far  be- 
hind sheep-farming,  was  not  neglected.  Four  thou- 
sand acres  were  in  wheat  crop,  and  the  yield  per  acre 
was  exceptionally  high.  The  discovery  of  gold  in 
Australia,  whilst  luring  away  the  roving  and  adven- 
turous elements  among  the  Pilgrims,  gave  opportu- 
nities to  the  industrious  farmer.  In  1857,  £20,000 


THE  CANTERBURY  PILGRIMS.  187 

worth  of  agricultural  produce  was  exported,  chiefly 
to  Australia.  For  the  present,  however,  Canterbury 
was  a  land  of  the  "  Golden  Fleece,"  and  visitors  at 
the  hotels  and  the  Club,  for  Christchurch  had  now  a 
club,  found  that  sheep  and  scab  were  the  principal 
topics  of  conversation.  The  mimic  Parliament  was 
next  in  importance,  and  periodically  the  settlers 
worked  themselves  into  a  white  heat  over  the  elec- 
tion of  a  superintendent  or  over  the  misdeeds  of  the 
Central  Government. 

Some  excitement  was  caused  in  1857  by  an  earth- 
quake which  set  the  church  bells  ringing.  At  Wel- 
lington, where  the  shock  was  felt  most  severely,  the 
inhabitants  were  panic-stricken.  It  was  accompanied 
by  rumbling  noises,  like  the  explosion  of  subter- 
ranean batteries.  "  The  sailors  on  board  the  ships 
in  the  harbour  thought  their  anchors  were  running 
out,  many  buildings  were  thrown  down,  Baron  von 
Alzdorf  was  killed,  and  three  persons  dangerously 
wounded.  In  the  midst  of  this  convulsion,  the  sen- 
tinel of  the  65th  Regiment,  guarding  the  ruins  of 
Government  House,  shouted,  '  All's  well ! '  As  the 
earth  shook  during  the  whole  night,  people  were 
panic-stricken.  Many  expected  to  be  engulfed :  men 
who  had  sojourned  in  South  America  lay  on  long 
poles,  lest  a  fissure  should  open;  women  and  chil- 
dren were  stretched  on  beds  in  the  streets  in  agonies 
of  terror ;  dogs  howled ;  stabled  horses  were  covered 
with  sweat;  and  ducks,  hens,  and  pigs  cried  pite- 
ously.  The  beach  was  swept  by  a  tidal  wave;  and, 
for  eight  hours  subsequent  to  the  first  shock,  the  tide 
receded  from  the  shore  every  twenty  minutes,  rising 
two  feet  higher,  and  falling  four  feet  lower,  than  at 
spring  tides;  next  day  there  was  no  ordinary  tide  in 
the  harbour.  When  daylight  came  it  was  found  that 


188  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

53  per  cent  of  the  brick  chimneys  were  down  and 
39  much  injured,  that  £16,000  worth  of  property 
was  destroyed,  that  the  country  around  Wellington 
was  elevated  two  feet,  that  the  Hutt  river  bridge 
was  swept  away,  that  several  fissures  had  opened  in 
the  earth,  that  the  air  stunk  with  the  immense  quan- 
tity of  dead  fish  cast  on  shore,  and  that  the  low  water 
mark  had  become  the  limit  of  high  water." 

The  temporary  alarm  was  soon  forgotten,  although 
for  a  time  earthquakes  were  added  to  Maori  savagery 
as  bugbears  to  frighten  intending  colonists. 


CONSTITUTION  ;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.    189 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 

THE    CONSTITUTION   AND   RESPONSIBLE    GOVERNMENT. 

AT  the  close  of  the  year  1852  word  reached  New 
Zealand  that  the  Imperial  Parliament  had  at  length 
passed  an  Act  conferring  a  constitution  upon  the 
Colony.  Everywhere  the  news  was  hailed  with  ex- 
travagant demonstrations  of  joy;  guns  were  fired, 
bells  rung,  tar  barrels  and  bonfires  set  ablaze ;  at 
Wellington,  Canterbury  and  Otago  the  rejoicings 
being  especially  jubilant.  Autocracy  and  despot- 
ism were  at  an  end,  and  budding  politicians  prepared 
for  coming  elections  and  predicted  a  new  era  of 
prosperity  and  useful  legislation. 

The  hand  of  Sir  George  Grey,  arch  despot  as  men 
thought  him,  was  in  almost  every  line  of  the  Con- 
stitution. It  had  been  drafted  in  England,  but  the 
basis  was  furnished  by  Grey.  Gibbon  Wakefield, 
who  was  soon  to  be  in  New  Zealand,  had  also  been 
consulted. 

The  Constitution,  which  is  based  on  the  broadest 
and  most  liberal  principles,  is  conspicuous  for  the 
unexampled  power  of  local  government  which  it 
conferred.  The  whole  Colony  was  divided  into  six 
Provinces,  each  of  which  was  provided  with  a  Super- 
intendent and  a  Provincial  Council,  both  elected  by 
the  people.  The  franchise  was  liberal,  colonists  pos- 
sessing a  freehold  worth  £50  a  year,  leaseholders 
paying  a  rental  of  £10  a  year,  being  allowed  to  vote, 
provided  they  had  been  residents  for  a  prescribed 


190  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

period,  which  varied  from  six  months  to  three  years. 
The  government  of  the  whole  Colony  was  vested  in 
the  Governor,  the  Legislative  Council  and  the  House 
of  Representatives.  The  members  of  the  Council 
were  nominated  by  the  Governor  and  held  their 
seats  for  life.  Many  regarded  the  perpetuation  of 
the  nominee  principle  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Upper  House  as  the  great  blot  of  the  Act.  Grey  had 
recommended  an  elective  Chamber,  but  Sir  John 
Pakington  had  thought  fit  to  discard  a  novelty,  the 
advantages  of  which  were,  to  say  the  least,  dubious. 
The  qualifications  of  voters  for  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives were  the  same  as  those  for  the  Provincial 
Councils. 

The  Provincial  Governments  were  debarred  from 
legislating  on  thirteen  specified  subjects,  such  as  cus- 
toms, coinage,  postal  service,  etc. ;  and  all  acts  passed 
by  them  were  subject  to  disallowance  by  the  Govern- 
or, and  could  be  overridden  by  any  act  of  the  Central 
Government  with  which  they  were  at  variance.  With 
these  exceptions  the  Provinces  were  given  a  pretty 
free  hand.  They  had  the  control  of  education,  immi- 
gration, harbours,  the  making  of  roads  and  bridges, 
and  after  1856  the  management  and  sale  of  Crown 
Lands  weire  also  conceded  to  them.  From  that  date 
the  revenue  arising  from  the  sale  of  land  and  the 
issue  of  pastoral  licenses  could  be  applied  to  local 
purposes,  with  the  exception  of  half-a-crown  an  acre 
on  all  lands  sold,  which  was  handed  over  to  the 
Central  Government. 

The  provision  made  for  native  representation  wa9 
so  meagre  as  to  be  valueless.  Maoris  who  chose  to 
register  as  land-owners  were  allowed  to  vote,  but 
few  of  them  took  advantage  of  the  privilege:  indi- 
vidual land-owning,  indeed,  hardly  existed  among 


CONSTITUTION;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.     191 

them.  The  Crown  retained  the  right,  if  it  thought 
fit,  to  maintain  the  laws,  customs,  and  usages  of  the 
Maoris  and  to  set  apart  particular  districts  in  which 
these  might  be  preserved.  The  effect  of  this  non- 
intervention, half-hearted  policy  was,  as  Mr.  Gis- 
borne  points  out,  "  to  segregate  the  natives,  and  so 
to  strengthen  their  own  uncivilised  habits." 

Although  Sir  John  Pakington  had  instructed  him 
to  put  the  Act  into  force  without  delay,  Sir  George 
Grey  took  no  steps  until  after  the  lapse  of  many 
months,  and  when  he  did  act,  he  made  the  mistake 
of  "  putting  the  cart  before  the  horse  "  by  bringing 
into  existence  the  Provincial  Councils  first,  thus 
forestalling  in  many  respects  the  work  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  This  policy  accentuated  the  worst 
features  of  Provincialism,  and  was  the  cause  of  a 
good  deal  of  friction  and  inconvenience.  There 
were  some  who  said  that  Grey  purposely  retarded  the 
introduction  of  complete  representative  government 
as  long  as  he  could,  and  that,  after  being  autocrat 
so  long,  he  was  averse  to  playing  the  role  of  a  Con- 
stitutional Governor.  Colour  was  given  to  these 
statements  by  the  fact  that  he  left  New  Zealand  (on 
the  last  day  of  the  year  1853)  some  months  before 
the  first  General  Assembly  met  in  Auckland.  What- 
ever may  have  been  his  motive  in  leaving  to  his  suc- 
cessor the  full  inauguration  of  Representative  Gov- 
ernment, only  the  most  rancorous  partisan  would 
argue  that  he  was  on  principle  hostile  to  free  insti- 
tutions. The  Constitution  itself  was  the  work  of 
his  hands,  and  it  was  the  most  liberal,  so  far  as  the 
colonists  were  concerned,  that  could  possibly  have 
been  devised.  During  his  eight  years  of  adminis- 
tration great  progress  had  been  made.  The  suppres- 
sion of  native  insurrection  had  revived  colonisation, 


192  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

which  had  ceased  altogether  with  the  receipt  of  the 
news  of  the  Wairau  massacre.  The  white  popula- 
tion had  risen  from  12,774  to  28,000,  and  the  ad- 
vance of  trade  was  indicated  by  the  increase  of  cus- 
toms revenue  from  £8,809  to  £50,527. 

The  first  elections  for  the  Provincial  Councils, 
which  took  place  in  1853,  gave  rise  to  much  excite- 
ment. The  press  was  full  of  electioneering  articles, 
and  squibs  and  libels  were  bandied  about  with  a  free- 
dom that  caused  much  heart-burning  and  led  in  sev- 
eral instances  to  litigation.  In  all  the  Southern 
Provinces  the  Maoris  were  more  or  less  indifferent, 
but  at  Auckland  they  were  keenly  interested  in  scenes 
which  occur  on  every  hustings,  but  which  to  them 
were  novel  and  singular.  Assembling  in  some  force, 
they  watched  the  proceedings  of  the  excited  electors, 
and  seem  to  have  been  somewhat  alarmed  by  the 
violent  gestures  of  the  orators  and  the  shouts  of  the 
mob.  When  roars  of  laughter  greeted  some  sally  of 
a  speaker  or  his  discomfiture  at  receiving  a  well 
directed  flour-bag  or  other  missile  dear  to  practical 
jokers  on  these  occasions,  they  began  to  realise  the 
spirit  of  the  thing  and  joined  in  the  fun.  One  ill- 
advised  speaker  referred  to  the  "  cannibal  propen- 
sities "  of  a  portion  of  his  audience,  but  his  remark 
was  received  with  yells  of  disapproval  by  the  white 
electors,  both  supporters  and  opponents.  Although 
few  of  them  were  on  the  electoral  roll,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  establishment  of  popular  government 
among  the  colonists  left  a  strong  impression  on  the 
minds  of  the  Maoris  and  stimulated  the  desires  many 
of  them  already  entertained  for  a  more  effectual 
rule  among  themselves. 

The  Colonial  Office  allowed  two  years  to  elapse 
before  it  sent  a  successor  to  Grey.  In  the  meantime 


CONSTITUTION ;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.     193 

the  affairs  of  the  Colony  were  administered  by 
Colonel  Wynyard,  who,  in  addition  to  being  senior 
military  officer  in  New  Zealand,  enjoyed  the  further 
distinction  of  having  recently  been  elected  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Province  of  Auckland.  This  plural- 
ity of  offices  was  the  subject  of  much  comment,  and 
the  Secretary  of  State  declared  it  incompatible  with 
the  spirit  of  the  constitution.  Wynyard  was  pri- 
marily a  soldier,  with  little  experience  in  politics ;  it 
was  natural,  therefore,  that  he  should  come  under 
the  influence  of  astute  wirepullers  like  Attorney- 
General  Swainson  and  Edward  Gibbon  Wakefield. 

The  first  General  Assembly  met  on  May  the  24th, 
1854.  It  was  composed  of  representative  men  from 
all  the  settlements.  Many  of  them  were  men  of 
marked  ability;  probably,  indeed,  no  Colonial  Par- 
liament has  ever  attained  so  high  an  average  of  in- 
telligence and  political  capacity;  and  yet  its  pro- 
ceedings made  it  the  laughing-stock  of  Australasia. 
For  this  it  was  not  wholly  responsible.  Its  members 
were  eager  to  get  to  work,  but  could  at  first  find  no 
means  of  bringing  their  forces  to  bear.  ~No  specific 
provision  had  been  made  in  the  Act  for  the  establish- 
ment of  responsible  government,  and  the  elected 
House  found  itself  excluded  from  any  share  in  the 
Government  except  by  the  tedious  method  of  ad- 
dresses. The  old  Executive  Council  still  existed 
and  was  disposed  to  fight  for  its  privileges.  After 
a  stormy  debate,  which  lasted  for  three  days,  the 
House  presented  an  address  to  the  Acting-Governor, 
urging  him  to  take  measures  to  establish  responsible 
government.  Wynyard  replied  that  the  Act  said 
nothing  on  the  point,  and  that  he  was  unable  to  dis- 
miss his  Patent  officers  without  instructions  from 
England.  He  agreed,  however,  to  add  three  mem- 

N 


194       PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

bers  from  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Executive 
Council,  the  three  Patent  members  of  which  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  willing  to  retire  should  suitable 
pensions  be  allowed  them.  This  compromise  was 
accepted,  and  Messrs.  Fitzgerald  and  Sewell,  of  Can- 
terbury, and  Mr.  Weld,  of  Nelson,  were  sworn  in  as 
members  of  the  Executive  Council,  and  therefore  as 
responsible  advisers  of  the  Governor.  Mr.  Fitz- 
gerald was  styled  Prime  Minister.  The  arrange- 
ment did  not  prove  a  success,  for  friction,  born  of 
misunderstanding  and  intrigue,  soon  arose  between 
the  old  members  and  the  new.  Gibbon  Wakefield, 
who  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  agitation  for  a 
responsible  ministry,  lost  the  confidence  of  the  House 
by  constituting  himself  the  secret  Mentor  of  the 
Acting-Governor.  His  duplicity,  and  the  cool  ef- 
frontery of  his  intrigues,  delivered  him  of  further 
influence  and  discredited  him,  even  in  the  eyes  of 
men  who  most  appreciated  the  great  services  he  had 
rendered  the  cause  of  colonisation.  "  After  a  pain- 
ful experience,  for  a  few  weeks,  of  carrying  on  their 
backs  the  politically  dead  body  of  old  officialdom, 
Messrs.  Fitzgerald,  Sewell  and  Weld  resigned." 
They  gave  out  as  their  reason,  that  the  Acting-Gover- 
nor had  refused  to  fulfil  a  verbal  promise  to  call 
upon  the  Patent  members  of  the  Executive  Council 
to  resign.  His  justification  was  that  no  Pension 
Bill  had  been  passed,  and,  that  being  so,  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  to  turn  his  old  advisers  adrift.  But 
the  House,  irritated  by  Wakefield's  defection,  and 
by  the  general  position  of  affairs,  were  little  inclined 
to  listen  to  excuses.  When  Wynyard  sent  a  message 
proroguing  the  Assembly  for  a  fortnight,  it  was 
flung  upon  the  table  unread,  the  standing  orders  were 
suspended,  and  resolutions  were  passed,  stopping 


CONSTITUTION  ;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.    195 

supplies  and  denouncing  Wakefield.  Alarmed  by 
the  illegality  of  these  proceedings,  some  of  the  mem- 
bers endeavoured  to  leave  the  chamber,  but  the  Ser- 
geant-at-arms  was  ordered  to  lock  the  door ;  and  when 
escape  was  sought  through  a  door  in  the  strangers' 
gallery,  Mr.  Sewell,  with  more  agility  than  dignity, 
leapt  into  the  gallery  and  put  the  key  of  the  door  in 
his  pocket.  Shortly  afterwards  this  irascible  athlete 
and  politician — an  educated  gentleman,  also — occu- 
pied himself  in  punching  the  ribs  of  a  member  who 
refused  to  remove  his  hat.  The  Governor's  message 
was  then  read  and  the  Assembly  broke  up  in  no 
amiable  frame  of  mind. 

Another  attempt  to  form  a  mixed  ministry  was 
equally  fruitless.  The  Governor's  address  at  the 
opening  of  the  second  sitting  (August  31)  contained 
several  startling  propositions.  He  proposed  to  make 
the  Legislative  Council  elective,  to  give  power  to  the 
superintendents  to  dissolve  Provincial  Councils,  to 
"  form  a  federal  convention  apart  from  the  General 
Assembly,"  and  to  bring  in  a  bill  establishing  re- 
sponsible government.  During  the  recess  a  new 
ministry  had  been  formed,  consisting  of  Mr.  !For- 
saith  of  Auckland,  Mr.  Jerningham  Wakefield  of 
Canterbury,  Mr.  Travers  of  Nelson  and  Mr.  Mac- 
andrew  of  Otago,  and  it  was  with  their  approval  that 
the  Governor  had  framed  his  scheme  of  reform.  The 
House,  however,  conscious  of  the  absurdity  as  well 
as  illegality  of  some  of  the  proposals,  carried  a  vote 
of  want  of  confidence  and  the  "  Clean  Shirt "  Min- 
istry ceased  to  exist.  Weary  of  chaos,  the  members 
then  agreed  to  carry  on  with  the  old  Executive  Coun- 
cil until  proper  steps  could  be  taken  to  initiate  re- 
sponsible government.  Supplies  were  voted,  and 
several  urgent  measures  were  rushed  through,  the 


198  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

most  important  being  one  intended  to  confer  upon  the 
Provincial  Councils  the  entire  management  of  waste 
lands — a  measure  disallowed  by  the  Home  Govern- 
ment. 

The  session  of  1855  was  attended  by  few  of  the 
Southern  members,  for  it  was  generally  understood 
that  the  meeting  would  be  little  more  than  formal. 
The  Acting-Governor  had  been  informed  by  the  Co- 
lonial Office  that  responsible  government  could  be 
inaugurated  without  further  legislation;  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  in  fact,  wrote  as  if  the  local  wrangling 
on  the  point  had  been  much  ado  about  nothing.  In 
September,  Governor  Colonel  T.  Gore  Browne  had 
arrived.  In  proroguing  the  General  Assembly,  he 
announced  his  intention  of  governing  by  responsible 
ministries,  but,  in  order  to  carry  out  that  intention, 
he  deemed  it  necessary  to  dissolve  Parliament  and 
begin  afresh  with  a  general  election. 

When  Parliament  assembled  in  1856  some  weeks 
of  unstable  equilibrium  followed.  In  less  than  a 
month  two  ministries — one  led  by  Mr.  Sewell  and 
another  by  Sir  William  !Fox — had  been  formed  and 
overthrown,  and  it  was  not  till  Sir  Edward  Stafford 
became  Prime  Minister  that  a  working  majority  was 
obtained.  It  was  soon  seen  that  the  old  political  war 
cries  were  to  be  conspicuous  by  their  absence,  and 
that  the  struggle  was  to  be  between  those  who 
favoured  a  strong  central  government  and  those  who 
wished  to  make  eveirthing  subsidiary  to  the  Prov- 
inces and  their  Councils.  Stafford,  though  moder- 
ate in  his  views,  and  not  averse  to  conceding  ample 
local  government,  found  himself  obliged  to  side  with 
the  Colonial  or  Centralist  party.  The  heat  that  was 
engendered  during  a  contest  that  lasted  nearly  twenty 
years  seems  somewhat  ridiculous  at  the  present  day. 


CONSTITUTION  ;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.     197 

The  extreme  Provincialists  would  have  divided  some 
30,000  people,  of  the  same  race  and  having  the  same 
ideals,  into  six  petty  republics,  each  jealous  of  the 
other,  each  jostling  the  other  for  the  loaves  and  fishes 
that  a  weak  and  complaisant  Central  authority  could 
be  induced  to  bestow.  Such  aims,  it  might  be  sup- 
posed, could  not  have  thriven  save  in  the  burlesque 
atmosphere  of  Gilbertian  operetta;  yet,  for  years, 
intelligent  men  in  New  Zealand  fought  tooth  and 
nail  to  prolong  the  day  of  small  things.  Thanks  to 
Sir  George  Grey's  blunder  in  putting  the  cart  before 
the  horse,  the  Provincial  Governments  had  entered 
upon  a  vigorous  and  precocious  career  before  the 
General  Assembly  had  emerged  from  its  infancy. 
They  were  not  only  loath  to  part  with  any  of  their 
legal  privileges;  they  agitated  for  more  and  more 
power,  and  concessions  were  made  which  introduced 
into  the  finances  of  the  Colony  complications  which 
only  the  abolition  of  Provinces  could  get  rid  of. 
From  the  outset  they  had  striven  for  the  right  to 
dispose  of  their  Crown  Lands  and  to  appropriate 
the  revenue  arising  from  that  source.  The  Stafford 
Ministry  yielded  to  their  demands  and  passed  an 
Act  by  which  the  Colonial  Legislature  abandoned  to 
them  the  control  of  public  lands.  This  concession 
gave  the  Councils  ample  means  of  carrying  on  the 
work  of  colonisation,  of  constructing  the  roads  and 
bridges  which  were  always  the  burden  of  their  song, 
but  it  led  to  other  results  which  were  far  from  desir- 
able. In  the  North  Island  the  greater  part  of  the  land 
was  still  in  the,  possession  of  the  Maoris ;  consequently 
little  Crown  land  was  available,  and  only  a  small 
revenue.  In  the  South  Island,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  was  no  native  difficulty,  and  there  was  abun- 
dance of  land.  Canterbury  and  Otago,  therefore, 


198  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

enjoyed  large  revenues  and  were  "  basking  in  finan- 
cial sunshine."  The  Northern  Provinces,  less  fortu- 
nate, were  always  in  financial  straits,  out  of  which 
they  had  to  be  helped  by  the  advancement  of  loans 
by  the  Colonial  Parliament. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  control  of  the  land  revenues, 
the  Councils  next  secured  a  certain  proportion  of  the 
Customs  revenue;  and  then  a  Provincial  Loans  Act 
was  passed,  by  means  of  which  impecunious  or  go- 
ahead  Provinces  could  borrow  money  at  their  own 
sweet  will.  As  the  General  Assembly  at  first  refused 
to  become  liable  for  loans  of  this  character,  the 
Provinces  had  to  pay  a  very  high  rate  of  interest.  In 
1867,  however,  the  Colonial  Legislature  had  to  as- 
sume the  whole  of  the  liability  incurred  by  the  Prov- 
inces. 

Another  question  which  soon  forced  itself  into 
prominence  was  the  native  policy.  With  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Imperial  Government,  Gore  Browne  had 
retained  in  his  own  hands  the  purchase  of  native 
lands  and  other  matters  affecting  the  Maoris;  a 
reservation  which  was  to  some  extent  justified  by 
the  omission  from  the  Constitution  Act  of  any  prac- 
ticable provision  for  Maori  representation.  The  Im- 
perial Government  had  pledged  itself  time  and  again 
to  safe-guard  the  interests  of  the  natives,  and  under 
the  circumstances  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Gore 
Browne  could  have  acted  differently.  At  the  same 
time  experience  soon  proved  that  the  system  adopted 
was  far  from  easy  to  carry  out.  "  Whatever  nominal 
arrangements  might  be  made,  the  Governor  could 
have  no  real  power  unless  he  had  also,  what  he  had 
not,  the  command  of  the  purse-strings;  and  the 
Ministers,  as  the  representatives  of  the  colonists, 
would  practically  be  held  responsible  for  any  serious 


CONSTITUTION  ;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.     199 

mischance  resulting  to  the  Colony  from  the  inde- 
pendent action  of  the  Governor,  for  native  questions 
also,  more  or  less,  intimately  affected  the  colonists; 
and  on  any  serious  point  of  difference  with  the  Gov- 
ernor, the  Ministers  would  not  only  be  bound  to  re- 
monstrate, but,  if  he  persisted,  also  to  resign."  *  A 
Native  Department  was  created,  at  the  head  of  which 
was  the  Native  Secretary,  whose  business  it  was  to 
make  the  first  investigation  into  any  case  and  then  to 
express  an  opinion  as  to  the  action  he  deemed  it  ad- 
visable to  follow.  It  was  then  the  custom  to  refer 
to  the  so-called  native  Minister,  who  also  expressed 
his  opinion,  but  it  was  from  the  Governor  that  the 
final  decision  must  come.  In  practice,  therefore, 
the  Governor  never  acted  without  consulting  the 
Ministry,  though  he  was  not  bound  to  accept  their 
advice.  The  position  both  of  Governor  and  Parlia- 
ment was  anomalous.  Parliament  alone  could  legis- 
late and  supply  money ;  but  the  Governor  was  nomi- 
nally despotic  in  exercising  the  powers  conferred 
upon  him  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature.  A  system 
in  which  power  and  responsibility  were  thus  divided, 
had  failure  writ  large  upon  it,  and  it  is  a  matter  for 
surprise  that  friction  was  not  more  frequent  than  it 
was. 

The  officer  appointed  as  Native  Secretary  was 
Mr.,  afterwards  Sir,  Donald  McLean,  who,  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  language  and  customs  and  charac- 
ter of  the  Maoris,  was  singularly  well  fitted  for  the 
position.  He  had  all  the  qualities  which  in  the  eyes 
of  the  natives  themselves  constituted  the  successful 
negotiator.  He  was  imperturbable,  infinitely  pa- 
tient, and  when  he  chose,  sphinxlike.  No  European 

*  Gisborne,  Neio  Zealand  Rulers  and  Statesvien, 


200  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

understood  better  what  was  meant  by  the  Maori 
expression  taihoa  (wait,  don't  be  in  a  hurry).  The 
natives  were  experts  in  the  art  of  dallying,  of  wait- 
ing for  the  psychological  moment:  Sir  Donald  Mc- 
Lean beat  them  at  their  own  game,  and  they  respect- 
ed him  accordingly. 

As  an  illustration  of  his  use  of  their  own  weapons, 
the  following  story  is  told :  On  one  occasion  he  visit- 
ed in  his  capacity  of  Land  Purchase  Commissioner, 
a  Maori  chief  from  whom  the  Government  was 
anxious  to  purchase  a  large  block  of  land.  Long 
negotiations  had  preceded  the  interview,  but  had 
come  to  nothing.  Accompanied  by  an  attendant 
bearing  two  bags  of  gold,  he  entered  the  village,  and 
was  received  with  the  utmost  politeness  and  hospital- 
ity. The  object  of  his  mission  was  well  known,  but 
the  talk,  which  lasted  far  into  the  night,  contained 
no  allusion  to  land  purchase.  At  length  McLean, 
rolling  his  blanket  round  him,  prepared  to  sleep, 
first,  however,  having  instructed  his  attendant  to 
hand  the  bags  of  gold  to  the  chief  for  safe-keeping. 
The  chief  emptied  the  contents  of  the  bags  on  a  mat. 
and  he  and  others  amused  themselves  for  hours  in 
counting  the  gold  pieces  and  arranging  them  in  vari- 
ous combinations.  In  the  morning  the  bags  were  re- 
turned to  the  attendant,  who  found  the  contents  cor- 
rect. Another  day  passed  in  friendly  chat,  and  in 
the  evening  the  gold  was  again  handed  to  the  chief 
who  amused  himself  as  before,  and  returned  it  to 
the  attendant. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day  Sir  Donald 
ordered  his  horse  and  prepared  to  depart.  The  usual 
ceremonious  parting  greetings  had  been  said.  From 
the  chief, 

"  Go  on  your  journey  safely." 


CONSTITUTION ;  RESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.    201 

From  the  knight, 

"  Remain  at  your  village  in  peace." 

Still  not  a  word  was  said  about  land,  either  by 
the  white  chief  or  the  black  one.  Sir  Donald  had  his 
foot  in  stirrup,  wondering  which  would  be  the  victor 
in  this  silent  contest.  He  had  played  the  game  of 
Taihoa  persistently  and  well,  and  won  it,  for,  at  the 
instant  of  departure,  with  his  hand  on  Sir  Donald's 
bridle,  the  Maori  chief,  unable  longer  to  restrain 
himself,  said  abruptly: 

"  Why  does  my  friend  not  speak  about  the  land ; 
does  he  not  know  I  wish  to  sell  it  ?  " 

"  Do  you  ? "  carelessly  replied  the  Land  Pur- 
chase Commissioner.  "  Why  did  you  not  tell  me 
your  wish  before  ?  " 

The  horses  were  passed  over  to  two  Maori  boys, 
the  Chief  and  the  Knight  re-entered  the  house,  and 
in  ten  minutes,  100,000  acres  of  land  had  been  pur- 
chased, and  £1000  had  been  paid  in  deposit  on  ac- 
count of  the  purchase. 

It  is  said  that  Sir  Donald  had  practised  Taihoa  so 
long  that  his  department  became  a  circumlocution 
office  notorious  for  its  want  of  punctuality.  Like 
most  specialists  also  he  was  somewhat  of  an  auto- 
crat ;  it  was  either  Caesar  or  nobody  with  him  where 
natfve  affairs  were  concerned. 

The  native  policy  of  the  Government  was  further 
weakened  by  the  mistake  of  joining  the  Native  Secre- 
tary's Office  and  the  Land  Purchase  Office,  McLean 
being  Secretary  as  well  as  Land  Purchase  Commis- 
sioner. The  effect  of  this  union  was  to  convince  the 
natives  that  the  real  object  of  the  Government  was 
the  purchase  of  land,  a  subject  upon  which  they  had 
always  been  suspicious.  Unconsciously,  therefore, 
our  administration  of  native  affairs  played  directly 


202  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

into  the  hands  of  Maori  kingmakers  and  Land- 
leaguers.  Another,  and  less  pardonable  mistake,  was 
the  relaxation  of  Grey's  measure  prohibiting  the  sale 
of  firearms  to  the  Maoris,  a  concession  in  the  inter- 
est of  white  traders  for  which  we  had  to  pay  dearly. 


THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."          203 


CHAPTEE  XVII. 

THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOTJE  POLICY." 

SINCE  Heke's  war  the  natives  had  been  quiescent, 
and  the  colonists,  espcially  those  of  them  who  never 
came  in  contact  with  the  Maoris,  had  almost  lost 
sight  of  the  native  question.  They  were  fully  occu- 
pied with  the  extension  of  settlement  and  with  the 
establishment  of  representative  government,  and  so 
concerned  themselves  little  with  what  was  passing 
among  the  tribes  of  the  North  Island.  In  peace  our 
race  is  ever  sceptical  of  the  possibility  of  war,  and 
New  Zealanders  as  a  whole  had  settled  down  to  the 
comfortable  conviction  that  fighting  was  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Yet  men  who  were  acquainted  with  the 
facts  of  the  case  had  an  uneasy  feeling  that  we  were 
sleeping  on  a  volcano.  Forces  were  at  work,  espe- 
cially among  the  Waikato  tribes,  which,  unless  di- 
verted by  greater  wisdom  than  we  had  usually  shewn 
in  our  treatment  of  the  native  race,  could  only  end 
in  one  way.  Government  had  done  much,  the  set- 
tlers as  a  body  had  never  been  guilty  of  "  wilful  in- 
justice or  oppression,"  yet  the  net  result  had  been 
distrust  and  widespread  discontent  among  the  Maoris. 
Many  causes  contributed  to  this  condition  of  affairs ; 
but  the  chief  cause  was  our  policy  of  drift  and  non- 
intervention, combined  with  the  natural  antipathy 
of  the  Maori  to  part  with  land,  and  his  growing 
national  ambition. 

Could  Grey  have  remained  a  few  years  longer,  to 


204:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

watch  over  the  development  of  his  proteges,  trouble 
might  have  been  averted.  The  "  sugar  and  flour  " 
policy,  begun  by  him,  became,  in  other  hands,  merely 
a  cheap  way  of  getting  rid  of  our  responsibilities  in 
relation  to  the  Maoris,  and  in  the  end  it  helped  to 
demoralise  them. 

In  pursuance  of  its  scheme  for  educating  and 
civilising  the  natives,  the  Government  subsidised  the 
native  schools  conducted  by  the  various  denomina- 
tions, but  it  was  unable  to  exercise  any  efficient 
control  over  the  management  of  these  institutions. 
A  Colonial  Act  of  1858  laid  down  certain  conditions 
as,  for  example,  that  the  children  should  have  in- 
dustrial training,  be  taught  to  read  and  write,  and 
sleep  on  the  school  premises ;  but  no  inspectors  were 
appointed  to  see  that  these  conditions  were  fulfilled. 
At  first  the  schools  were  very  popular,  the  industrial 
training  being  specially  attractive  to  the  natives, 
and  were  soon  overcrowded ;  but  as  the  Government 
was  not  in  a  position  to  increase  its  subsidies,  econ- 
omy had  to  be  practised  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
children  were  often  poorly  fed  and  clothed,  and  their 
welfare  generally  neglected.  The  original  scheme 
was  in  every  way  excellent,  but  the  Government 
seems  to  have  been  under  the  impression  that  annual 
grants  of  money  were  all  that  could  be  expected  of 
it,  and  so  it  let  things  drift  until  the  schools  ceased 
to  have  any  influence  over  the  Maoris.  The  mission- 
aries found  that  their  influence  was  also  on  the  wane. 

To  encourage  industry  and  to  promote  more  set- 
tled habits  among  the  natives,  the  Government,  fol- 
lowing Grey's  example,  continued  to  make  presents 
to  them  of  ploughs,  flour-mills,  horses,  grass-seed, 
etc.  This  was  the  "  flour  and  sugar  "  policy.  At 
first  it  seemed  a  great  success.  White  labourers  and 


THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."          205 

mechanics  were  welcomed  as  instructors ;  large  areas 
of  land  were  cleared  of  fern  and  turned  into  wheat 
fields;  mills  were  built;  better  houses  erected;  and 
many  Maoris  became  almost  wealthy.  A  most  en- 
couraging sign  was  the  anxiety  they  showed  to  be- 
come skilled  in  European  arts.  In  some  places  they 
founded  and  supported  out  of  their  own  pockets  in- 
dustrial schools,  at  which  white  artisans  taught 
tailoring,  shoemaking,  smith's  work,  carpentry,  and 
such  other  trades  as  appealed  to  their  employers. 
But  in  a  few  years  unexpected  results  began  to  dis- 
close themselves.  Presents  either  in  money  or  kind 
became  little  more  than  bribes,  and  unscrupulous 
chiefs  were  quick  to  perceive  the  advantages  of  the 
system.  Why  should  they  work  or  depend  on  their 
own  efforts,  when  they  could  beg  or  bully  from  the 
Government  what  they  wanted  ?  Many  of  them  had 
borrowed  considerable  sums  from  the  Governor,  and 
were  not  remarkable  for  their  punctuality  in  repay- 
ing these  loans.  Some,  indeed,  simply  squandered 
what  they  got  and  then  asked  for  more  as  the  price 
of  their  friendship.  The  Native  Department  at 
Auckland  was  beset  by  swaggering  bullies,  whose 
appetite  for  presents  was  insatiable.  The  policy, 
carried  out,  as  it  was,  without  system,  and  without 
any  serious  attempt  being  made  to  supply  the  Maoris 
with  the  means  of  internal  government,  proved  in 
the  end  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing.  "  It  is  alto- 
gether a  mistaken  notion,"  wrote  a  gentleman  who 
was  intimately  acquainted  with  native  affairs,  "  to 
suppose  that  we  are  attaching  the  natives  to  us,  and 
securing  their  allegiance  to  the  Crown,  by  the  be- 
stowment  of  presents  and  granting  of  loans.  In  most 
instances  this  is  positively  injurious,  fostering  idle- 
ness and  covetousness,  and  causing  the  chiefs  to  lay 


206  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

aside  that  self-respect  which  raised  them  so  far 
above  the  generality  of  barbarians." 

In  1861  Colonel  Browne  wrote:  "Some  of  the 
most  populous  districts,  such  as  Hokianga  and  Kai- 
para,  have  no  magistrates  resident  among  them ;  and 
many,  such  as  Taupo,  the  Ngatiruanui,  Taranaki, 
and  the  country  about  the  East  Cape,  have  never 
been  visited  by  an  officer  of  the  Government.  The 
residents  in  these  districts  have  never  felt  that  they 
are  subjects  of  the  Queen  of  England,  and  have  lit- 
tle reason  to  think  that  the  Government  of  the 
country  cares  at  all  about  their  welfare."  We  have 
here  a  clear  statement  of  the  weakness  of  the  native 
policy.  We  gave  them  schools,  horses,  ploughs, 
money,  but  we  omitted  to  provide  them  with  any  sys- 
tem of  government,  in  the  absence  of  which  our 
charity  merely  debauched  them.  Sir  George  Grey 
had  made  a  beginning  by  the  appointment  of  magis- 
trates and  native  assessors  in  certain  districts.  Lit- 
tle progress  was  made,  however,  for  the  magistrates 
were  in  most  cases  confined  to  the  English  settle- 
ments, and  the  assessors  were  not  always  desirable 
associates  in  the  work  of  dispensing  justice  to  their 
fellow  Maoris.  The  chiefs,  it  is  true,  were  im- 
mensely proud  of  the  honour  and  of  the  small  emolu- 
ments conferred  upon  them  as  assessors,  but  their 
zeal  outran  their  judgment  and  knowledge.  The 
fines  levied  by  them  as  penalties  were  often  ridicu- 
lously excessive.  Ti  Oriori,  a  Waikato  magistrate, 
with  English  sympathies,  enforced  the  claims  of  the 
settlers  with  a  fine  disregard  of  justice  to  his  country- 
men, heedless  to  say  he  grew  rich  on  commissions. 
Another  chief  who  had  set  up  a  court  of  his  own  at 
Raglan,  on  one  occasion  condemned  a  Maori  to  pay 
a  certain  fine.  "  After  waiting  three  years  for  the 


THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."          207 

money,  lie  waylaid  the  defaulter  at  the  house  of  an 
English  magistrate,  whither  the  latter  had  come  to 
receive  some  money,  and  informed  the  magistrate 
that  he  was  about  to  levy  execution  after  the  primi- 
tive fashion  of  knocking  a  man  down  and  taking  the 
money  out  of  his  pocket.  The  magistrate  expostu- 
lated and  begged  him,  if  quite  determined,  at  least 
to  wait  till  the  man  was  off  his  (the  magistrate's) 
land,  and  not  make  a  disturbance  on  his  place.  To 
this  Heteraka  consented,  and  accordingly  this  ener- 
getic judge,  with  two  comrades,  chased  the  recusant 
from  the  magistrate's  house,  overtook  him,  knocked 
him  down,  took  his  money  out  of  his  breeches  pocket, 
helped  himself  to  the  fine,  the  costs  of  the  hearing, 
£1  as  the  cost  of  this  singular  execution,  and  then 
gave  him  back  the  rest  of  the  money."  * 

In  1857  the  Ministry  urged  upon  Governor 
Browne  the  desirability  of  taking  measures  to  aid 
the  Maoris  in  the  efforts  they  were  making  to  secure 
law  and  order  among  themselves,  and  Mr.  F.  D. 
Fenton,  who  had  been  resident  magistrate  at  Kai- 
para,  was  asked  to  draw  up  a  code  of  laws  which 
might  be  applied  in  native  districts  under  the  su- 
pervision of  European  officers.  Mr.  Fenton  had 
knowledge  and  ability  equal  to  the  task,  but,  unfortu- 
nately, the  Government  had  committed  the  mistake 
of  making  his  position  independent  of  the  Native 
Secretary's  Department.  McLean  and  Fenton  were 
not  well  fitted  to  pull  together,  but  when  each  was 
made  independent  of  the  other — when,  in  other 
words,  two  Native  Departments  were  created — the 
result  was  an  outburst  of  jealousy  and  discord  which 
ended  in  the  abandonment  of  the  scheme  and  the  re- 
moval of  Mr.  Fenton  to  another  position. 
*  Gorst,  The  Maori  King. 


208  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

In  1858  Parliament,  at  the  instance  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, passed  the  Native  Districts  Regulation  Bill, 
and  the  Native  Circuits  Courts  Bill.  The  first  em- 
powered the  Governor  to  make  bye-laws  for  observ- 
ance in  native  districts,  these  laws  to  be  framed  as 
far  as  possible  in  harmony  with  the  wishes  of  the 
Maori  runangas;  and  the  second  gave  him  power  to 
appoint  itinerant  courts  of  justice  for  the  trial  of 
native  cases.  Very  little  good  came  of  these  excel- 
lent measures.  They  arrived  too  late  to  check  the 
ferment  which  for  years  past  had  been  gathering 
strength  in  the  Waikato  district. 

The  net  result  of  our  native  policy,  then,  was  fail- 
ure. The  Maoris,  left  to  drift  into  a  state  of 
anarchy,  were  discontented  and  suspicious,  and  some 
of  them  like  Wiremu  Tamihana,  the  king-maker, 
seeing  the  evil  case  of  their  countrymen,  about,  as 
they  thought,  to  be  swallowed  up  in  the  resistless 
tide  of  white  immigration,  created  and  fostered,  by 
every  means  in  their  power,  a  desire  for  a  separate 
Maori  nationality.  It  is  said  that  in  1854  Wi 
Tamihana  had  come  to  Auckland,  with  a  code  of 
laws  in  his  pocket  drawn  up  by  him  by  way  of  sug- 
gestion for  the  better  government  of  the  Maori. 
Perhaps  the  granting  of  a  Constitution  to  the  Pake- 
has  had  inspired  this  step;  for  the  young  chieftain, 
a  promising  pupil  of  the  missionaries  and  a  close  stu- 
dent of  the  Old  Testament,  was  well  informed  and 
sought  earnestly  for  some  means  of  ameliorating  the 
lot  of  his  people.  He  was  a  stranger,  however;  at 
Auckland  none  knew  him  and  officialdom  closed  its 
doors  in  his  face;  and  proud,  but  sensitive  and  re- 
fined, he  could  not  condescend  to  the  bullying  tactics, 
which  other  chiefs  had  employed  with  success.  Dis- 
appointed and  thrown  back  on  his  own  resources,  he 


THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."          209 

returned  to  his  home  at  Peria  to  mature  his  plans 
for  the  making  of  a  Maori  nation.  Peria,  which 
thus  became  the  centre  of  the  agitation  for  a  Maori 
king,  merits  some  description,  for  under  the  guidance 
of  Tamihana  it  had  become  a  model  village.  It  was 
situated  on  undulating,  hilly  country,  the  hilltops 
crowned  by  the  whares  of  the  various  hapus.  The 
whares  were  surrounded  by  plantations  of  wheat, 
maize,  kumeras  and  potatoes,  and  by  groves  of  peach 
trees.  A  Maori  built  church  and  post  office  stood 
on  separate  eminences.  In  the  valley  were  the  mill, 
and  the  school-house,  where  the  Chief  himself  took 
an  active  part  in  teaching  the  scholars.  The  people 
were  industrious  and  thriving  and  enjoyed  the  Arca- 
dian simplicity  of  their  lives. 

Wi  Tamihana  was  a  man  of  peace  and  the  schemes 
that  were  simmering  in  his  brain  did  not  contem- 
plate a  resort  to  war.  Had  the  Government  co- 
operated more  tactfully  with  him  in  his  efforts  to 
obtain  better  local  government  for  the  Maoris,  the 
King  movement  might  have  fizzled  out  harmlessly. 
As  time  went  on,  it  became  clear  to  him  that  the 
Maoris  must  help  themselves.  His  thoughts  then 
took  a  bolder  flight.  The  tribes  must  combine  and 
form  a  Maori  nation,  so  as  to  present  an  unbroken 
barrier  to  the  inroads  of  the  white  men,  and  he  saw 
no  way  of  bringing  about  this  unification  of  the 
tribes  except  by  setting  up  a  king,  whose  mana 
would  be  respected  by  all.  Equally  essential  it 
seemed  to  put  an  end  to  the  further  sale  of  land. 
Tamihana  was  thus  a  land-leaguer,  but  many  who 
agreed  with  him  in  his  desire  to  keep  the  land,  de- 
clined to  have  anything  to  do  with  Kingism.  These 
two  things,  the  creation  of  a  king  and  the  refusal  to 
part  with  land,  were,  however,  only  means  to  an  end, 

o 


210  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Tamihana  had  been  made  to  feel  the  social  inferior- 
ity of  the  Maori  in  the  eyes  of  the  white  man  and  he 
resolved  to  elevate  his  race  so  that,  if  possible,  their 
degradation  might  be  removed.  For  that  reason  he 
encouraged  education,  agriculture,  and  laboured  to 
exclude,  from  the  territories  over  which  he  had  in- 
fluence, the  curse  of  strong  drink. 

A  letter,  written  by  him  to  Colonel  Browne  in 
1861,  expresses  in  quaint  language  some  of  the 
motives  which  actuated  him.  "  I  thought,"  he  says, 
"  that  a  great  house  should  be  built  as  a  house  of 
assembly  for  the  tribes  that  were  living  at  feud  in 
~Nev?  Zealand,  and  would  not  cleave  to  one  another. 
The  house  was  built,  it  was  Babel.  Then  I  applied 
my  thoughts  to  seek  for  some  plan  by  which  the 
Maori  tribes  should  cleave  together  and  assemble 
together,  so  that  the  people  might  become  one,  like 
the  Pakehas.  The  Ngatipaoa  were  invited,  and 
they  came  to  me  and  joined  the  talk  for  good. 
Afterwards  the  Ngatimatera  were  invited,  and  they 
came;  afterwards  the  Ngatiwhakane  were  invited, 
and  they  came;  afterwards  the  !Ngatiwhanaunga 
were  invited,  and  they  came.  However,  they  were 
mere  meetings :  evil  still  went  on — the  river  of  blood 
was  not  yet  stopped.  The  missionaries  behaved 
bravely,  and  so  did  I ;  but  the  flow  of  blood  did  not 
eease.  When  you  came,  the  river  of  blood  was  still 
open,  and  I  therefore  sought  for  some  plan  to  make 
it  cease ;  I  considered  how  this  blood  could  be  made 
to  diminish  in  the  island.  I  looked  at  your  books 
where  Israel  cried  to  have  a  king  to  themselves,  to  be 
a  judge  over  them;  and  I  looked  at  the  word  of 
Moses,  in  Deuteronomy  xvii.  15,  and  at  Proverbs 
xxix.,  and  I  kept  these  words  in  my  memory 
through  all  the  years;  the  land  feuds  continuing, 


THE  "  SUGAE  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."    211 

blood  still  being  spilt,  and  I  still  meditating  on  the 
matter.  In  the  year  1857,  Te  Heu  Heu  called  a 
meeting  at  Taupo,  at  which  sixteen,  hundred  men 
were  present.  When  the  news  of  this  meeting 
reached  me  I  said,  I  will  consent  to  this,  to  assist 
my  work.  I  began  at  these  words  of  the  Book 
of  I  Samuel  viii :  5,  '  Give  us  a  king  to  judge  us/ 
This  was  why  I  set  up  Potatau,  in  1857.«  On  his 
being  set  up,  the  blood  at  once  ceased,  and  has  so 
remained  up  to  the  present  year.  The  reason  why  I 
set  up  Potatau  as  a  king  for  me,  was  because  he  was 
a  man  of  extended  influence,  and  a  man  who  was 
revered  by  the  people  of  this  island.  That,  my 
friend,  was  why  I  set  him  up.  To  put  down  my 
trouble,  to  hold  the  lands  of  the  slaves,  and  to  judge 
the  offences  of  the  chiefs,  the  king  was  set  up.  The 
runangas  were  set  up ;  the  magistrates  were  set  up ; 
and  the  Faith  was  set  up.  The  works  of  my  an- 
cestors have  ceased;  they  are  diminishing  at  the 
present  time.  What  I  say  is,  the  blood  of  the 
Maoris  has  ceased." 

In  this  letter  Wi  Tamihana  refers  principally  to 
the  condition  of  lawlessness  and  division  which  pre- 
vailed among  the  Maoris  themselves ;  he  makes  no  al- 
lusion to  their  grievances  against  the  white  men. 
Yet  these  existed  and  fanned  the  irritation.  Among 
them  were  (1)  the  sale  of  rum,  which,  although  il- 
legal, was  carried  on  by  disreputable  white  smug- 
glers with  impunity;  (2)  the  abandonment  of  half- 
caste  children  by  their  white  fathers;  (3)  friction 
between  outlying  settlers  and  neighbouring  Maoris; 
and  (4)  the  growing  apprehension  that  the  govern- 
ment policy  was  directed  to  one  end — the  confiscation 
of  their  lands. 

Keformers  frequently  protested  against  the  contin- 


212  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

uance  of  the  rum  traffic,  and  Wi  Tamihana  com- 
pelled every  European  settler  in  his  territory  to  sign 
an  undertaking  to  pay  £1  for  every  native  found 
drunk  on  his  premises.  But  the  evil  continued  un- 
abated; both  natives  and  white  traders  conspired  to 
defeat  the  intentions  of  the  law. 

The  desertion  of  half-caste  children  was  of  very 
frequent  occurrence,  and  "tended,"  as  Mr.  Eenton 
wrote,  "  to  lower  the  character  of  Europeans  gen- 
erally in  the  eyes  of  the  natives."  The  unfortunate 
children  themselves  grew  up  utterly  neglected,  out- 
casts of  both  races,  and  combining  the  evil  qualities 
of  each.  The  Maoris  regarded  this  treatment  of 
their  women  as  a  mark  of  their  own  social  inferior- 
ity in  the  eyes  of  the  colonists,  and  they  resented 
it  bitterly.  When  Colonel  Browne  attended  the 
great  runanga  at  Rangiriri  (April,  1857)  Te  Heu 
Heu,  the  great  Taupo  chief,  delivered  himself  of 
passionate  denunciations  of  the  contemptuous  treat- 
ment to  which  his  countrymen  were  subjected.  He 
told  the  Governor  that  whilst  the  low-caste  English- 
man was  welcomed  and  treated  hospitably  by  the 
Maoris,  their  own  chiefs,  when  visiting  Auckland, 
were  made  to  smart  under  countless  petty  insults; 
that  the  Englishmen  living  among  them  were  des- 
perate characters,  who  ill-treated  native  women  and 
debauched  native  men  with  drink,  who  allowed  their 
cattle  to  trespass  on  native  cultivations  and  refused 
to  make  compensation  for  damage  done.  In  all 
this  we  see  the  pathetic  but  angry  cry  of  a  sensitive 
race  for  social  equality. 

The  outsettlers,  against  whom  portion  of  Te  Heu 
Heu's  denunciation  was  directed,  were,  no  doubt, 
guilty  of  indiscretions,  but  they  were  as  much  sinned 
against  as  sinning.  Mostly  small  farmers  living 


THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."          213 

in  rough  wooden  "  shanties  "  surrounded  by  a  few 
fields  which  they  had  fenced  in,  they  allowed  their 
live  stock  to  roam  at  large.  Their  cattle  wandering 
into  native  cultivations,  which  were  never  protected 
by  fences,  often  played  havoc  with  wheat  and  maize 
crops;  and  the  Maori  pigs  returned  the  compliment 
by  breaking  through  the  settler's  fences  and  rooting 
up  his  potatoes.  But  as  the  settler  was  generally 
far  removed  from  any  neighbour  whose  help  he 
might  call  in,  and  as  he  rarely  provided  himself  with 
firearms,  the  Maoris  invariably  got  tlie  better  of  him 
in  squabbles  relating  to  trespass.  Tomahawks 
whirled  over  his  head  induced  the  proper  degree  of 
meekness,  and  then  the  Maoris  carried  off  a  cow  or 
horse  as  payment.  These  border  troubles,  to  a  large 
extent  neglected  by  the  Government,  became  a  fester- 
ing sore  and  produced  irritation  and  estrangement 
between  both  races. 

But  all  the  discontent  of  the  Maoris  centred 
round  the  Land  Question.  For  a  time  the  Govern- 
ment had  little  difficulty  in  procuring  sufficient  land 
for  the  colonists.  The  greed  of  the  natives  for 
weapons  and  money  equalled  the  greed  of  the  colo- 
nist for  land,  but  the  very  readiness  of  some  to  part 
with  land  led  to  frequent  quarrels  and  bloodshed 
among  the  natives  themselves.  The  right  of  tribes 
to  sell  was  frequently  questioned  by  other  tribes  who 
revived  ancient  claims  of  their  own.  For  example, 
the  Ngatimaniopotos  having  conquered  another  tribe 
and  seized  their  territory,  gave  some  of  it  to  their 
kinsmen,  the  Waikatos;  but  when  the  latter  sold  a 
small  portion  to  the  settlers,  the  Ngatimaniopotos 
reasserted  their  ownership  and  forbade  any  further 
sales.  Moreover,  the  Maoris  seem  to  have  been  un- 
der some  misapprehension  as  to  the  nature  of  land 


214:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

purchase.  They  believed  that  they  still  retained 
some  sort  of  dominion  over  the  land  sold  to  the  set- 
tler, and  regarded  him  simply  as  an  occupier  whose 
presence  was  a  source  of  some  honour  and  a  good 
deal  of  profit  to  them.  They  were  soon  disillusion- 
ised. The  land  was  gone  for  ever;  and  then  they 
began  to  discover  that  they  were  being  cheated  in 
the  price,  for  the  Government  bought  at  sixpence  an 
acre,  or  less,  and  charged  the  settler  ten  shillings  an 
acre.  Intelligent  Maoris,  moreover,  began  to  ask 
when  this  buying  of  land  would  stop.  They  would 
soon  be  eaten  up  by  the  pakeha.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing, therefore,  that  land  leagues  flourished  and 
gained  adherents  every  day,  until  they  embraced 
nearly  all  the  powerful  tribes. 

It  was  not  till  it  was  announced  that  the  Maoris 
were  about  to  hold  a  great  meeting  at  Kangiriri  to 
elect  a  king  that  the  Government  appears  to  have  felt 
any  uneasiness  in  regard  to  the  talk  about  a  king 
and  a  separate  nationality.  The  Governor  then  de- 
cided to  attend  the  meeting  and  see  for  himself  how 
far  these  movements  were  to  be  taken  seriously. 
During  his  tour  he  had  interviews  with  many  prom- 
inent chiefs.  He  found  that  although  most  of  them 
professed  loyalty  to  the  Queen  there  was  an  almost 
universal  desire  to  have  a  chief  or  king  of  their  own 
selection  who  should  be  able  to  weld  them  into  a  na- 
tion and  protect  their  rights.  At  Rangiriri  speeches 
were  made  to  the  Governor  in  the  presence  of  the 
aged  Te  Whero  Whero  (Potatau),  in  which  run- 
angas,  a  European  magistrate,  and  laws  were  asked 
for ;  and  when  the  Governor  promised  to  send  a  mag- 
istrate to  Waikato  and  to  frame  laws  for  the  Maoris, 
they  took  off  their  hats  and  shouted  "  Hurrah !  " 
Potatau,  who  all  along  had  shown  a  strong  disincli- 


THE  "SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."          215 

nation  to  be  made  king,  said  "  he  would  be  guided 
by  the  Governor's  advice,  and  that  he  was  dying  and 
should  bequeath  his  people  to  the  Governor's  care." 
Deceived  by  this  friendly  reception  the  Governor 
returned  to  Auckland,  convinced  that  the  king  agi- 
tation would  be  abandoned. 

In  the  meantime  between  two  and  three  thousand 
natives  had  assembled  at  Rangiriri  and  leading  men 
among  them  expressed  their  opinions  on  the  question 
of  a  king.  Some  of  these  speeches  are  extremely  in- 
teresting both  for  the  light  they  cast  upon  the  griev- 
ances of  the  Maoris  and  also  upon  the  genesis  of 
their  desire  for  a  king  of  their  own.  It  will  be  seen 
that  frequent  references  are  made  by  the  speakers 
to  the  history  of  the  Hebrews;  the  Old  Testament, 
in  fact,  was  the  Maori  handbook  of  politics,  to  which 
they  made  confident  appeal  on  the  most  diverse  sub- 
jects. The  debate  was  prefaced  by  an  address  by 
one  of  the  native  teachers  on  temper  and  moderation. 
Paora  said :  God  is  good.  Israel  was  his  people. 
They  had  a  king.  I  see  no  reason  why  any  nation 
should  not  have  a  king,  if  they  wish  for  one.  The 
Gospel  does  not  say  we  are  not  to  have  a  king:  it 
says,  "Honour  the  king;  love  the  brotherhood." 
Why  should  the  Queen  be  angry?  We  shall  be  in 
alliance  with  her,  and  friendship  will  be  preserved. 
The  Governor  does  not  stop  murders  and  fights 
amongst  us.  A  king  will  be  able  to  do  that.  Let  us 
have  order,  so  that  we  may  grow  as  the  Pakehas 
grow.  Why  should  we  disappear  from  the  country  ? 
New  Zealand  is  ours :  I  love  it. 

Takirau:  That  is  the  road — that  word  "friend- 
snip."  But  it  applies  to  botn  sides.  Our  king  will 
be  friendly  with  the  Queen.  Their  flags  will  be 
tied  together.  (Hoists  the  king's  flag,  and  ties  it  to 


216  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  Queen's.)  I  say  let  us  be  like  all  other  lands  that 
have  kings,  and  glory  and  honour.  Let  the  blessing 
of  God,  which  rests  on  the  lands  and  their  kings, 
rest  upon  us.  If  I  ask  the  Queen  to  leave  her 
throne,  I  should  be  wrong;  all  I  ask  is,  that  the 
dignity  which  now  rests  on  her  should  rest  on  our 
king;  so  that  this  land  may  be  in  peace,  and  may 
be  honoured.  Let  the  Queen  and  the  Pakehas  oc- 
cupy the  coast,  and  be  a  fence  round  us. 

Wiremu  Nera:  I  am  a  small  man  and  a  fool. 
Ngatihaua,  be  not  dark,  Waikato  listen,  Taupo  at- 
tend. My  name  has  been  heard  of  in  the  old  day, 
and  sometimes  it  is  still  mentioned.  1  am  going  to 
speak  mildly,  like  a  father.  My  word  is  this,  I 
promised  the  first  Governor,  when  he  came  to  see 
me,  and  I  promised  all  the  rest,  that  I  would  stick 
to  him,  and  be  a  subject  to  the  Queen.  I  intend  to 
keep  my  promise,  for  they  have  kept  theirs;  they 
have  taken  no  land.  Mine  was  the  desire  to  sell, 
and  they  gave  me  the  money.  Why  do  you  bring 
that  new  flag  here?  There  is  trouble  in  it.  I  am 
content  with"  the  old  one.  It  is  seen  all  over  the 
world,  and  it  belongs  to  me.  I  get  some  of  its  hon- 
our! What  honour  can  I  get  from  your  flag?  It 
is  like  a  fountain  without  water.  You  say  we  are 
slaves.  If  acknowledging  that  flag  makes  me  a 
slave,  I  am  a  slave.  Let  me  alone. 

There  was  half  an  hour's  silence  after  this  coun- 
terblast. Then  Wiremu  Tamihana  arose  and  said: 
I  am  sorry  my  father  has  spoken  so  strongly.  He 
has  killed  me.  I  love  "New  Zealand.  I  want  order 
and  laws.  The  king  can  give  us  these  better  than 
the  Governor ;  the  Governor  has  never  done  anything 
except  when  a  Pakeha  is  killed.  He  lets  us  kill 
each  other  and  fight  A  king  would  stop  these  evils. 


THE  "  SUGAR  AND  FLOUR  POLICY."    217 

However,  if  you  don't  like  the  king,  pull  down  his 
flag.  Let  Rewi  pull  it  down  if  you  wish  it. 

Rewi  stepped  forward  and  threw  the  king's  flag 
at  the  foot  of  the  Union  Jack.  Tarahawaiki  (re- 
hoisting  the  flag)  :  I  love  New  Zealand.  It  shall 
not  lie  down  in  this  way.  Let  it  look  at  the  sun  and 
we  will  support  it. 

Waata  Kukutai:  Let  the  flag  stand,  but  wash  out 
the  writing  on  it.  Let  us  not  talk  like  children,  but 
find  out  some  real  good  for  ourselves.  The  white 
men  have  the  money,  the  knowledge — everything,  I 
shall  remain  a  subject  of  the  Queen  and  look  up  to 
her  flag  as  my  flag  for  ever  and  ever.  If  you  follow 
your  road  you  will  get  benighted,  get  into  a  swamp, 
and  either  stick  there  or  come  out  covered  with  mud. 

Tarahawaiki  got  up  in  anger  and  was  about  to 
speak,  when  a  native  teacher  cried  out,  "  Let  us 
pray."  The  debate  then  terminated  for  the  day. 

It  was  continued  the  next  day,  some  counselling 
patience  and  friendship,  others  like  the  hot-headed 
Te  Heu  Heu  advocating  the  total  separation  of  races 
and  the  driving  of  the  Pakehas  into  the  sea;  but  it 
was  clear  that  the  violent  party  were  as  yet  in  a 
minority.  JSTo  definite  policy  was  determined  on; 
the  object  of  the  runanga  was  simply  to  test  the 
state  of  feeling  among  the  tribes  and  to  give  Wi 
Tamihana  an  opportunity  of  guiding  it  in  the  direc- 
tion he  wished  it  to  go. 

In  order  to  allay  the  excitement  Mr.  Fen  ton  was 
appointed  Resident  Magistrate  of  Waikato  and  in 
July,  1857,  left  Auckland  with  "  200  Ibs.  weight  of 
books,  paper  and  ink,"  to  take  up  his  duties. 
Courts  were  held  at  various  villages,  the  names  of 
persons  suitable  for  the  positions  of  assessors  ob- 
tained, and  much  useful  information  collected.  But 


218  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  attempt  to  civilise  the  Maoris  by  encouraging 
them  to  "  play  at  courts "  was  soon  temporarily 
abandoned  owing,  as  related  above,  to  differences  be- 
tween Mr.  Fenton  and  the  Native  Secretary.  The 
former  was  placed  under  the  control  of  the  latter, 
but  although  he  was  again  allowed  to  make  another 
circuit  in  the  Waikato,  friction  continued  and  the 
appointment  was  cancelled.  The  result  was  that 
promises  made  by  Mr.  Fenton  to  the  natives  were 
unfulfilled,  and  the  natives  characterised  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Government  as  maminga  or  humbug. 
To  quote  the  words  of  a  report  drawn  up  by  a  Par- 
liamentary Committee  in  1860,  "  his  withdrawal  dis- 
heartened a  large  and  influential  body  of  natives, 
including  many  influential  chiefs  who  associated 
themselves  with  him  and  were  actively  engaged  on 
the  side  of  the  Government.  They  were  disap- 
pointed and  humiliated  at  the  sudden  abandonment 
of  their  undertaking.  Many  of  them  joined  the 
king  party,  and  this,  amongst  other  causes,  has 
tended  to  irritate  and  give  a  more  malign  influence 
to  the  King  movement  itself." 

Simultaneously  with  Fenton's  withdrawal  Po- 
tatau  was  elected  Maori  king  at  ISTgaruawahia.  Thus 
united  into  a  loose  confederation  the  tribes  looked 
forward  with  some  complacency  to  a  conflict  with 
the  Pakehas.  Gore  Browne's  foolish  relaxation  of 
the  restrictions  imposed  by  Grey  upon  the  sale  of 
muskets  and  gunpowder,  had  enabled  them  to  ac- 
cumulate within  three  years  £50,000  of  war  ma- 
terial. The  train  was  laid  and  it  only  wanted  a 
spark  to  explode  the  mine. 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  219 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
TEIRA'S  LAND. 

THE  King  movement  might  still  have  remained 
the  plaything  of  peaceful  dreamers  like  Wi  Tami- 
hana,  had  it  not  been  for  the  unfortunate  land  com- 
plications which  existed  in  Taranaki.  Fitzroy's 
reversal  of  Commissioner  Spain's  award  had  the  ef- 
fect of  cooping  the  colonists  up  in  the  town  and 
suburbs  of  New  Plymouth  and  of  embittering  the 
relations  between  the  settlers  and  the  Maoris.  Sir 
George  Grey  had  found  it  impracticable  to  overrule 
Fitzroy's  decision,  without  reverting  to  war,  but  he 
had  done  his  best,  by  judicious  purchases,  to  secure 
elbow-room  for  the  colonists.  Gradually  the  set- 
tlement extended  itself  along  the  coast,  and  thanks 
to  a  fine  climate  and  a  fertile  soil,  some  degree  of 
prosperity  began  to  attend  the  efforts  of  the 
harassed  farmers;  but  they  chafed  at  the  sight  of 
millions  of  acres  lying  almost  idle  in  the  hands  of 
Maori  land-leaguers.  Maori  exiles  continuing  to 
return  materially  strengthened  the  hands  of  those 
who  were  opposed  to  selling  more  land.  "Wirenru 
Kingi,  who  for  some  time  past  had  lived  at  Wai- 
kanae  in  Cook's  Straits,  migrated  with  his  followers 
to  Waitara,  in  spite  of  Grey's  threat  to  prevent  him 
by  force,  and  events  soon  happened  which  brought 
him  into  conflict  with  the  Government  and  made 
him  the  champion  of  the  Maori  land-leaguers. 

For  a  time  the  Taranaki  natives  were  like  a  house 


220  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

divided  against  itself.  In  the  intervals  of  bullying 
the  colonists,  they  quarrelled  with  each  other  over 
the  land  and  their  feuds  led  to  much  savage  blood- 
letting. In  general  these  feuds  arose  out  of  the  de- 
sire of  individuals  or  portions  of  tribes  to  sell  land, 
and  although  they  were  at  first  confined  to  the 
Maoris  themselves  it  was  evident  that,  sooner  or 
later,  the  settlers  would  be  embroiled.  Murders  oc- 
curred with  alarming  frequency,  sometimes  on  the 
public  roads,  sometimes  even  on  the  farms  of  the 
settlers.  A  victim  of  one  of  these  outrages  was 
Katatore,  a  relative  of  Wi  Kingi,  who  was  killed  in 
the  most  brutal  manner  by  a  chief  named  Ihaia,  who 
excused  his  action  on  the  ground  that  he  was  aveng- 
ing the  murder  of  a  relative.  As  Ihaia  was  promi- 
nent among  the  land-selling  party,  the  settlers  took 
his  side  and  the  Provincial  Council  white-washed 
him  as  a  "  friendly,  honest  character,"  although  it 
was  notorious  that  he  was  a  mischief-making  savage, 
neither  true  to  his  countrymen  nor  to  the  colonists. 

At  length  in  1859  Wiremu  Kingi,  who  had  ob- 
tained a  dominating  influence  over  the  Taranaki 
natives,  informed  Governor  Browne  that  no  more 
land  would  be  sold  and  warned  him  against  listening 
to  individual  offers.  Shortly  afterwards  the  Governor 
visited  Taranaki  and  in  the  course  of  an  address 
to  the  settlers  he  declared  his  intention  to  remain 
neutral  in  native  disputes  and  to  "  purchase  no  land 
without  the  consent  of  all  who  had  a  claim  on  it." 
At  the  same  time  he  warned  the  Maoris  that  he 
would  punish  outrages  committed  by  members  of 
either  race  within  the  limits  of  the  settlement;  and 
further  that  he  would  not  permit  any  one  to  interfere 
in  the  sale  of  any  land  of  which  he  was  not  an  owner 
in  whole  or  part  Thereupon  a  Maori  named  Teira 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  221 

got  up  and  offered  his  land  at  Waitara  for  sale. 
The  Governor  accepted  the  offer,  provided  a  satisfac- 
tory title  could  be  made  out.  Wi  Kingi  (Te  Rangi- 
take)  then  rose.  "  Listen !  Governor !  "  said  he. 
"  Notwithstanding  Teira's  offer  I  will  not  permit 
the  sale  of  Waitara  to  the  Pakeha.  Waitara  is  in 
my  hands,  I  will  not  give  it  up!  Never!  Never! 
Never !  I  have  spoken !  "  After  that  he  abruptly 
withdrew  accompanied  by  his  followers. 

Teira's  title  to  the  land  was  investigated  by  an 
officer  of  the  Native  Department  and  the  evidence 
educed  at  the  inquiry  convinced  the  Governor  that 
Teira  had  a  perfect  right  to  sell,  and  that  Kingi's 
interference  could  not  be  justified.  In  arriving  at 
this  conclusion,  several  circumstances,  apparently 
through  no  carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  officer  who 
made  the  inquiry,  had  been  left  out  of  consider- 
ation; in  fact,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  come  to 
light  until  three  years  after  the  purchase  had  been 
decided  upon.  It  was  then  ascertained  that  Kingi, 
on  his  migration  to  Waitara,  had  intended  to  settle 
on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river,  where  his  own  ter- 
ritory was  situated;  but,  that,  apprehending  an  at- 
tack from  the  Ngatimaniopoto,  he  had  taken  up  his 
residence,  at  Teara's  invitation,  on  the  southern  side, 
where  he  had  erected  a  "  land-title  "  pa  and  culti- 
vated some  ground.  The  sale  of  the  land,  therefore, 
touched  him  more  closely  than  was  at  first  suspected. 
White  sympathisers,  among  whom  were  Bishop 
Selwyn  and  Chief  Justice  Martin,  advanced  the  fur- 
ther argument  in  his  favour,  that,  as  a  chief,  he  had, 
in  accordance  with  Maori  custom,  a  clear  right  to 
forbid  the  alienation  of  the  land.  However  this 
may  be,  it  is  clear  that  the  Governor  and  his  advisers 
acted  in  good  faith,  and  were  conscientious  in  their 


222  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

opinion  that  Kingi  was  merely  a  troublesome 
meddler. 

After  giving  due  notice,  the  Governor  sent  a  party 
of  surveyors  to  the  Waitara  purchase ;  but  the  opera- 
tions of  those  gentlemen  were  brought  to  an  ignomin- 
ious close.  The  survey  was  resisted  not  by  armed 
warriors,  but  by  a  band  of  the  ugliest  women  in  the 
tribe,  who  put  the  surveyors  to  flight  by  their  un- 
savoury endearments,  and  carried  off  the  chain. 
Colonel  Murray,  who  was  in  command  of  the  sol- 
diers then  in  Taranaki,  wrote  to  Wi  Kingi  that  un- 
less resistance  were  abandoned,  he  should  be  obliged 
to  occupy  the  land  with  troops;  and  as  Kingi  per- 
sisted in  his  opposition  the  threat  was  carried  out. 
The  first  act  of  the  war  was  an  attack  on  Kingi's  pa, 
which,  after  two  days'  bombardment,  was  evacuated 
by  the  natives.  Thus  began  an  unfortunate  struggle 
which  lasted  for  many  years  and  soon  involved  all 
the  tribes  who  had  adopted  the  flag  of  the  Maori 
King  and  the  principles  of  the  Land-league. 

The  effect  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  upon  the 
Taranaki  settlement  was  disastrous.  Outsettlers 
abandoned  their  farms  and  crowded  into  "New  Plym- 
outh, which  soon  put  on  the  appearance  of  a  mili- 
tary camp;  and  hundreds  of  women  and  children 
were  sent  for  safety  to  Nelson  and  elsewhere.  In  a 
few  months  3000  regular  soldiers,  mostly  drawn 
from  Australia,  were  landed  in  Taranaki,  and  this 
force  was  increased  by  500  settlers  enrolled  as 
militiamen.  The  scene  of  operations  was  the  country 
extending  from  Waitara  along  the  coast  to  Tata- 
raimaka.  It  was  seamed  by  ravines  and  waterways 
from  the  slopes  of  Mount  Egmont,  and  the  tall  fern 
and  forest  which  covered  most  of  its  surface  afforded 
excellent  cover  for  guerilla  fighters,  and  correspond- 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  223 

ingly  embarrassed  the  evolution  of  regular  troops, 
who,  led  by  men  of  mediocre  ability,  exasperated  the 
colonists  by  the  slowness  of  their  movements,  and 
the  maddening  cautiousness  of  their  tactics.  All 
through  the  Maori  war,  in  fact,  the  Imperial  troops 
were  handled  so  blunderingly  that  they  became  the 
laughing-stock  of  both  races. 

So  far  the  quarrel  with  Wiremu  Kingi  had  not 
involved  the  tribes  owning  the  sway  of  the  Maori 
King,  but  these  were  soon  to  take  a  hand  in  the  fight- 
ing. In  December,  1859,  an  emissary  of  the  Wai- 
katos  had  called  at  Waitara  and  left  a  flag,  which, 
had  it  been  accepted,  would  have  been  taken  as  a 
sign  of  adhesion  to  the  King's  cause.  Wiremu  Kingi 
was  opposed  to  this  step;  the  quarrel  was  his  and 
his  only.  A  strong  party  among  the  Taranakis,  how- 
ever, were  in  favour  of  kingism,  and  despatched  a 
deputation  to  the  King  at  Ngaruawahia,  and  while 
there  the  news  that  fighting  had  taken  place  at 
Waitara  arrived  at  Waikato.  It  became  neces- 
sary then  to  decide  whether  the  king  natives  should 
take  part  in  the  fray.  A  chief  sent  to  Waitara 
to  inquire  into  the  validity  of  Teira's  sale,  reported 
that  the  matter  was  one  which  concerned  Wi  Kingi 
alone;  but  the  latter  had  now  changed  his  attitude 
and  wrote  a  letter  in  which  he  consented  to  join  the 
league,  and  prayed  for  the  assistance  of  the  Wai- 
katos.  A  meeting  was  held  at  Ngaruawahia,  at 
which  Wi  Tamihana  advised  caution,  since  the 
merits  of  the  case  were  not  sufficiently  clear.  "  Te 
Rangitake  (Wiremu  Kingi)  says,  the  land  is  his: 
Teira  says,  it  is  his :  I  say,  Let  us  find  out  the 
owner."  Opinions  were  divided;  the  majority  ap- 
parently were  not  in  favour  of  active  intervention; 
but  there  was  a  considerable  number  of  young  bloods 


224  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

who  were  desirous  of  taking  part  in  the  sport  of 
shooting  Pakehas.  Rewi  Maniopoto  secretly  en- 
couraged them,  and  a  chief  named  Epiha  got  to- 
gether a  band  of  volunteers  and,  without  asking  the 
king's  permission,  marched  off  to  Taranaki,  where 
they  helped  to  defeat  the  troops  in  an  attack  upon 
the  Puketakauere  pa.  This  pa  was  situated  on  an 
eminence  near  the  Waitara  River,  its  rear  and  right 
protected  by  an  almost  impassable  raupo  swamp. 
The  troops  despatched  to  assault  this  stronghold 
wero  divided;  one  portion  under  Captain  Messen- 
ger made  a  detour  to  the  rear,  and  the  other,  led  by 
Major  Nelson,  executed  a  night  march  which  brought 
it,  at  dawn,  in  front  of  the  pa.  The  twenty-four 
pounders  and  the  mortars  immediately  opened  fire 
on  the  stockade,  which  was  splintered  to  pieces ;  but 
when  our  men,  after  a  wild  charge  up  the  hill,  had 
entered  the  works,  they  found  themselves  exposed  to 
a  withering  fire  from  rifle-pits  cunningly  dug  in  the 
flanking  hillocks.  They  had  been  trapped  by  a  foe 
as  "  slim "  as  the  modern  Boer.  The  recall  was 
sounded,  and  so  hasty  was  the  retreat  that  many  of 
the  dead  and  wounded  were  left  on  the  field.  In 
the  meantime,  Captain  Messenger's  men,  after  strug- 
gling through  swamp  and  bush  all  night,  were  rest- 
ing from  their  labours  when  the  sound  of  firing 
reached  them.  They  immediately  got  under  arms, 
and  with  bull-dog  senselessness  endeavoured  to  force 
a  way  through  the  raupo  swamp,  where  many  of 
them,  sunk  to  the  waist  in  mud  and  water,  were  shot 
or  tomahawked  by  the  enemy.  Captain  Messenger, 
collecting  the  remnant  of  his  force,  then  skirted  the 
swamp,  and,  after  rushing  some  of  the  Maori  rifle- 
pits  at  the  rear  of  the  pa,  succeeded  in  effecting  a 
junction  with  the  main  body  now  in  full  retreat. 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  225 

The  Puketakauere  disaster,  which  cost  us  thirty 
killed  and  thirty-four  wounded,  covered  the  Waikato 
volunteers  with  glory  and  inspired  numbers  to  fol- 
low their  example.  The  aged  Potatau  tried  to  re- 
strain their  ardour,  but  to  little  purpose,  for  they 
were  burning  to  distinguish  themselves  like  their 
comrades.  It  became  the  fashion  to  spend  a  portion 
of  the  year  in  Taranaki,  plundering  the  homes  aban- 
doned by  the  settlers  and  sniping  red-coats ;  but  for 
the  present  there  was  no  political  significance  in 
their  action;  each  acted  on  his  own  account,  for  the 
sake  of  the  sport  and  loot.  Rewi  Maniopoto  alone 
appears  to  have  had  ulterior  motives;  he  saw  in  the 
Taranaki  war  an  opportunity  for  hastening  a  con- 
flict for  supremacy  between  the  whole  Maori  race 
and  the  Europeans.  In  this  aim  he  was  aided,  un- 
fortunately, by  the  discussions  which  took  place  in 
the  General  Assembly  and  in  the  newspapers.  Many 
members  of  Parliament  held  that  Wiremu  Kingi 
was  acting  within  his  rights  in  forbidding  the  alien- 
ation of  the  Waitara  block,  which  was  freely  criti- 
cised as  an  iniquitous  job,  suggested  by  the  Gov- 
ernor's Taranaki  advisers.  Others  urged  that  it  was 
scandalous  that  the  Crown  should  be  both  a  party  in 
a  land  purchase  transaction  and  also  the  judge  to 
decide  upon  the  merits  of  its  own  action.  The  pub- 
licity given  to  these  opinions,  and  the  open  espousal 
of  the  Maori  cause  by  Bishop  Selwyn  and  Sir  Wil- 
liam Martin,  had  the  effect  of  justifying  and  stimu- 
lating the  warlike  spirit  of  the  Waikatos.  Among 
others,  Wetini,  a  chief  of  the  ISTgatihaua,  next  in 
position  and  esteem  to  Wi  Tamihana,  went  down  to 
Taranaki  with  a  chosen  band  of  young  warriors. 
Tamihana  had  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  going: 
"  You  are  a  great  warrior.  We  cannot  spare  you. 

P 


226  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

The  trouble  is  coming  home  to  us.  You  are  a  great 
baby,  too — guileless  as  an  innocent  girl.  Wiremu 
Kingi  is  a  subtle,  white  man's  Maori,  without  any 
special  sense  of  honour.  He  will  entrap  you,  and 
you  will  be  lost."  The  warrior  listened  to  these 
words  of  wisdom,  but  was  for  going  all  the  same. 
"  Then  go  and  stop  there,"  was  the  parting  word  of 
the  incensed  King-maker. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  old  Potatau  died.  A 
great  warrior  in  the  good  old  days,  he  had,  in  late 
years,  always  opposed  the  hot-bloods  who  wished  to 
plunge  the  country  into  war.  "  Hold  fast  to  love,  to 
law,  and  to  the  faith,"  was  his  dying  injunction  to 
the  people  who  were  fast  rushing  upon  self-destruc- 
tion. There  was  considerable  discussion  as  to  his 
successor.  It  was  thought  by  many  that  Wiremu 
Tamihana  was  the  most  likely  man,  but  his  well- 
known  desire  to  maintain  peace  had  prejudiced  him 
in  the  eyes  of  the  war  party,  and  probably  he  was 
satisfied  with  his  role  of  king-maker.  The  choice 
lay  between  Matutaera  Potatau  and  his  sister  Paea 
Potatau.  Paea  was  intelligent  and  resolute,  Ma- 
tutaera was  an  effeminate  sot,  whose  only  claim  to 
respect  was  that  he  was  Te  Whero  Whero's  son; 
Tamihana,  however,  preferring  a  puppet  whom  he 
could  manage,  gave  his  vote  for  Matutaera,  who  was 
accordingly  made  king. 

When  Wetini  reached  Taranaki,  he  was  eager  to 
come  to  blows  with  the  Pakehas,  and  Kingi,  an  astute 
savage,  was  quite  willing  to  humour  his  desire. 
After  some  days  spent  in  scouting  it  was  determined 
to  establish  a  post  at  Mahoetahi,  a  knoll  about  six 
miles  north  of  ISTew  Plymouth,  surrounded  on  all 
sides  but  one  by  flax  and  raupo  swamps.  Having 
selected  their  battle-ground,  they  sent  a  challenge 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  227 

to  General  Pratt,  who  at  that  time  commanded  the 
troops  in  Taranaki.  "  Friend/'  ran  this  taunting 
missive,  "  I  have  heard  your  word — come  to  fight 
me :  that  is  very  good.  Come  inland  and  let  us  meet 
each  other.  Fish  fight  at  sea.  Come  inland  and  let 
us  stand  on  our  feet.  Make  haste,  make  haste.  Do 
not  delay.  That  is  all  I  have  to  say  to  you — make 
haste. 

"  From  Wetini  Taiporutu,  etc." 

General  Pratt,  somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  the 
colonists,  decided  to  accept  the  challenge,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  6th  November,  1860,  marched  out 
of  New  Plymouth  with  a  large  force  of  regulars  and 
a  considerable  number  of  volunteers  under  the  com- 
mand of  Major  Atkinson.  Arriving  at  Mahoetahi 
they  saw  nothing  but  a  hillock  in  the  midst  of  a 
raupo  swamp. 

"  Sold  again !  "  muttered  the  General.  The  en- 
emy, however,  was  lying  low,  confident  in  Wetini's 
well  conceived  plan.  He  himself  with  his  braves 
occupied  the  summit  of  the  hill,  as  a  blind  to  draw 
the  soldiers,  who,  as  usual,  would  attempt  to  storm 
the  position;  but  Hapurona,  Kingi's  fighting  gen- 
eral, with  800  men,  was  hidden  in  some  scrub  to 
the  right  of  the  ridge  by  which  Mahoetahi  was  ap- 
proached, and  Kingi  himself  with  400  was  planted 
in  a  wooded  gulley  to  the  rear  of  Hapurona.  It  was 
a  well  planned  trap.  Wetini  was  to  court  the,,  full 
attack  of  the  Pakehas,  and  Hapurona  and  Kingi 
were  to  fall  upon  the  rear.  For  some  reason  or  other 
the  plan  miscarried:  possibly  Hapurona  and  Kingi 
were  not  averse  to  letting  Wetini  have  a  lesson:  or 
they  found  their  own  position  threatened  by  the  un- 
expected evolutions  of  our  troops. 

Having  despatched  companies  right  and  left  to 


228  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

encircle  the  position,  General  Pratt  ordered  the  65th 
and  the  Taranaki  volunteers  to  carry  the  ridge  by 
assault.  When  the  Maori  scouts  announced  to  their 
chief  that  the  soldiers  were  approaching  he  replied, 
"  Wetini  is  at  his  breakfast."  When  they  told  him 
that  the  soldiers  had  arrived,  he  replied  again,  "  We- 
tini is  at  his  breakfast ;  "  but  when  they  announced 
that  the  hill  was  surrounded  he  said  with  the  utmost 
composure,  "  Wetini  has  finished  his  breakfast," 
and  then  rushed  out  to  engage  in  a  hand-to-hand 
scuffle  with  the  storming  party.  He  himself  was 
among  the  first  to  fall.  The  ridge  was  carried  in  a 
moment,  and  the  remnant  of  the  IsTgatihaua,  taking 
refuge  in  the  swamp,  were  chased  hither  and  thither 
by  the  excited  soldiers  and  volunteers,  and  cut  to 
pieces,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  number  who 
managed  to  escape  by  hiding  in  the  fern.  Hapu- 
rona's  concealed  force  fired  a  volley  in  the  air  and 
then  took  refuge  in  flight.  The  fall  of  Wetini, 
though  bewailed  in  many  a  tangi  by  his  kinsmen  in 
Waikato,  so  far  from  crushing  the  spirit  of  the  king 
tribes,  merely  egged  them  on  to  retrieve  their  dam- 
aged reputation.  Numbers  of  adventurers  and  sym- 
pathisers continued  to  flock  to  Taranaki;  some  of 
these  came  from  Tauranga,  and  other  remote  places, 
and  it  was  noted  with  alarm  that  disaffection  was 
spreading. 

At  the  scene  of  operations,  the  troops,  most  of 
them  weary  of  inglorious  campaigning,  were  kept 
marching  and  counter-marching;  now  shut  up  in 
redoubts  expecting  attacks  that  never  came  off,  and 
now  sapping  and  mining  their  way  laboriously  to 
pas  only  to  find  them  empty  and  their  labour  in 
vain.  At  length  General  Pratt  sat  down  before 
Pukerangiora,  Wiremu  Kingi's  fighting  pa,  and  be- 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  229 

gan  to  sap  and  erect  large  earthworks.  The  pa  was 
full  of  Waikato  warriors,  all  thirsting  to  revenge 
the  death  of  Wetini.  One  dark  night  a  storming 
party  of  picked  Maoris  crawled  on  their  bellies  up  to 
the  ditch  of  one  of  the  redoubts,  where  for  a  time 
they  lay  breathlessly  still.  A  sentry  reported  to  the 
officer  on  duty  that  there  was  a  scratching  noise  in 
the  ditch.  When  they  listened  again  all  was  silent, 
but  the  sentry  persisting  in  his  story,  the  officer,  his 
legs  held  by  the  sentry,  leaned  over  to  make  sure, 
when  a  Maori  bullet  crashed  through  his  head.  A 
furious  attack  was  then  made  on  all  sides  of  the  re- 
doubt, the  Maoris  swarming  over  with  the  agility  of 
cats,  but  only  to  find  themselves  impaled  on  the  bayo- 
nets of  the  hastily  roused  soldiers.  Finally,  when 
the  Maoris  found  themselves  taken  in  the  flanks 
and  rear  by  parties  of  soldiers  rushing  up  from  the 
neighbouring  redoubts,  they  fled  precipitately.  The 
utu  they  had  promised  to  take  for  the  death  of  We- 
tini was  still  unpaid  and  the  shame  of  their  failure 
rankled  long  in  their  minds. 

Our  men  were  still  sitting  in  front  of  Pukeran- 
giora,  when  suddenly  Wiremu  Tamihana  appeared 
and  asked  General  Pratt  for  leave  to  visit  Wi  Kingi 
and  other  chiefs  shut  up  in  the  pa.  Leave  was 
granted,  though  in  a  manner  which  the  king-maker 
resented  as  discourteous,  and  a  truce  was  allowed 
for  several  days,  during  which  he  reasoned  with  the 
chiefs.  The  end  of  their  talk  was  that  Kingi  and 
the  other  chiefs  made  Tamihana  sole  arbiter  in  re- 
gard to  the  Waitara  dispute.  He  immediately  asked 
for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  and  urged  General  Pratt 
to  withdraw  his  troops,  undertaking  on  his  part  to 
submit  the  Waitara  claim  to  the  decision  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  to  disperse  the  Maoris.  The 


230  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

General,  however,  refused  to  suspend  hostilities  un- 
til he  should  receive  instructions  from  the  Governor, 
and  Tamihana  could  not  be  persuaded  to  accept  our 
invitation  to  visit  the  Governor  in  Auckland.  We 
were  somewhat  distrustful  of  his  intentions,  and  he 
made  no  secret  of  his  want  of  confidence  in  our  sug- 
gestion that  he  should  visit  the  Governor.  The  siege 
was  resumed  and  desultory  fighting  continued  until 
the  arrival  of  Mr.  McLean,  the  Native  Secretary, 
who  had  an  interview  with  Tamihana.  McLean 
said  that  if  the  tribes  would  disperse  the  Governor 
would  treat  with  them  separately  in  regard  to  the 
points  at  issue,  viz.:  (1)  The  Waitara  land,  (2)  the 
murder  of  settlers,  (3)  the  destruction  of  property 
by  the  Maoris,  and  (i)  the  question  of  the  Maori 
King. 

These  overtures  seemed  one-sided,  for  McLean  had 
not  brought  the  Governor's  consent  to  the  withdrawal 
of  the  troops.  Tamihana  was  annoyed,  but  said  he 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  Waitara,  and  that  he 
had  told  the  natives  to  disperse.  Then  he  returned, 
taking  with  him  most  of  the  Waikato  contingent, 
who,  however,  were  sulky  and  complained  loudly  of 
his  interference.  His  role,  of  peacemaker  was  cer- 
tainly not  an  enviable  one.  He  had  succeeded  in 
patching  up  a  peace,  or  rather  an  extended  truce,  for 
no  settlement  had  been  arrived  at,  and  both  parties 
distrusted  him.  He  declined  to  meet  the  Governor 
at  Mangeve  as  had  been  proposed,  and  quietly  waited 
for  further  developments. 

In  the  month  of  May  he  received  a  communica- 
tion from  the  Native  Secretary  asking  what  resti- 
tution he  intended  to  make  for  the  damage  wrought 
by  the  Waikatos  in  Taranaki.  This  was  shortly 
afterwards  followed  by  a  proclamation  from  the 


TEIRA'S  LAND.  231 

Governor  enumerating  the  evil  deeds  alleged  to  have 
been  committed  by  adherents  of  the  Maori  King, 
and  making  the  following  specific  demands: 

(1)  From  all:  submission,  without  reserve,  to  the 
Queen's  sovereignty  and  the  authority  of  the  law. 

(2)  From  those  who  are  in  possession  of  plunder: 
restitution  of  that  plunder. 

(3)  From  those  who  have  destroyed  or  made  away 
with    property:    compensation    for    the    losses    sus- 
tained. 

There  could  be  no  misunderstanding  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  proclamation:  it  was  levelled  di- 
rectly at  their  king.  After  bringing  the  points  raised 
by  the  Governor  before  a  meeting  held  at  Ngarua- 
wahia,  Tamihana  wrote  a  long  letter  in  which  he 
defended  with  considerable  skill  the  action  of  the 
Maoris  in  setting  up  a  king  and  combated  the  accusa- 
tion that  the  Maoris  had  caused  the  war.  On  the 
question  of  restoration  of  plunder,  he  argued  that 
war  was  made  upon  Wiremu  Kingi,  and  that  the 
soldiers  burnt  his  pa,  destroyed  its  contents,  ate  his 
cattle,  and  sold  a  hundred  horses  belonging  to  the 
Maoris.  As  for  the  murders  complained  of,  he  re- 
plied with  a  tu  quoque,  "  It  was  a  murder  when 
Ihaia  killed  Katatore.  He  caused  him  to  drink 
spirits,  that  his  senses  might  leave  him.  He  was 
waylaid  and  killed  by  Ihaia.  That  was  a  foul  mur- 
der. You  looked  on  and  made  friends  with  Ihaia." 

"  All  doubt,"  said  the  Governor,  on  the  receipt  of 
this  letter,  "  is  now  at  an  end,  and  it  is  evident  that 
the  Maoris  will  not  submit,  that  this  part  of  the 
Colony  must  be  abandoned  by  all  who  will  not  yield 
obedience  to  the  Maori  law,  of  which  the  aptest  sym- 
bol is  the  tomahawk."  This  was  overshooting  the 
mark  somewhat,  but  it  was  clear  that  the  ultimatum 


232  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

had  merely  stiffened  the  resistance  of  the  Maoris  and 
their  determination  to  abide  by  their  king  and  land 
league.  War  seemed  inevitable  and  preparations 
were  made  on  both  sides,  when  the  news  came  that 
Sir  George  Grey  had  been  re-appointed  Governor 
and  would  soon  be  in  the  Colony. 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  233 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    WAR    IN    WAIKATO. 

FOR  a  second  time  Sir  George  Grey  was  summoned 
to  extricate  the  Colony  from  difficulties.  On  this 
occasion  he  came  from  Cape  Colony,  where  he  had 
won  further  laurels  by  his  statesmanlike  handling 
of  Dutch  and  native  questions.  It  was  hoped  on  all 
hands  that  he  would  be  able  to  avert  the  general  war 
which  Governor  Browne's  proclamation  had  all  but 
induced;  but  though  he  and  the  new  Premier,  Sir 
William  Fox,  the  Peace-at-any-price  Minister,  ex- 
hausted all  the  arts  of  diplomacy  in  the  direction  of 
peace,  it  was  soon  clear  that  their  efforts  would  be 
futile.  Most  of  the  chiefs  whom  Sir  George  Grey 
had  attached  to  himself  during  his  first  administra- 
tion were  now  dead ;  the  influence  he  once  possessed 
no  longer  existed;  and  new  leaders  had  arisen  and 
a  new  public  opinion.  Government  officers  and 
others  all  agreed  in  stating  that  the  Waikatos  were 
now  thoroughly  set  on  independence  and  the  main- 
tenance of  their  king,  and  that  they  had  lost  all  confi- 
dence in  the  professions  or  promises  of  the  Govern- 
ment. They  had  been  "  humbugged  "  too  often,  and 
the  reputation  that  Governor  Grey  enjoyed  among 
them  for  subtlety  only  intensified  their  distrust. 
They  pointed  also  to  the  6000  troops  still  retained 
in  the  Colony  as  conclusive  evidence  that  the  Gov- 
ernor's protestations  of  peace  were  hollow. 

The  difficulty  of  the  task  before  him  was  not  less- 


234  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ened  by  the  reopening  of  the  question  whether  the 
native  administration  should  reside  in  the  Governor 
or  in  the  Colonial  Parliament.  Although  the  Gov- 
ernor had  hitherto  received  in  most  cases  the  sup- 
port of  the  Ministry  in  his  management  of  native 
affairs,  there  had  always  been  a  considerable  party 
in  favour  of  placing  native  questions  in  the  hands 
of  the  Colonial  ministers.  The  colonists  were  di- 
rectly concerned  in  the  proper  government  of  the 
Maoris,  and  claimed  that  they  were  in  a  better  po- 
sition than  the  Imperial  authorities  for  dealing  with 
the  subject.  At  the  same  time  they  were  not  anxious 
to  relieve  the  Imperial  Government  of  the  obligation 
to  police  the  Maoris,  or  carry  on  active  war  if  it 
should  be  necessary.  They  wished  to  enjoy  all  the 
distinction  of  governing  without  incurring  its  risks. 
The  old  arrangement  had  given  them  very  consider- 
able influence,  and  it  had  the  advantage  that  it  en- 
abled them  to  escape  the  odium  of  any  mistakes  in 
policy.  Th  P  TJn«m  fl-fwernm  PTJ  j-^ng  well  as  many  of 
the  colonists,  were,  however,  weary  of  the  dual  ar- 
rangement which  led  to  constant  bickerings  and 
protestations,  and  appeared  to  satisfy  nobody;  yet 
it  seemed  necessary  that  the  Colonial  Parliament 
should  take  its  share  in  the  large  military  expendi- 
ture involved  in  pacifying  the  Maori.  A  resolution 
in  favour  of  giving  the  control  of  native  affairs  to 
responsible  ministers  was  defeated  on  July  22,  1862, 
but  only  by  the  casting  vote  of  the  Speaker.  Sir 
George  Grey  had  in  the  meantime  written  to  the 
Colonial  Office  suggesting  the  advisability  of  the 
step  recommended  in  the  resolution,  and  the  Home 
Government  concurred,  with  the  stipulation,  how- 
ever, that  the  colonists  should  contribute  to  the  mili- 
tary expenses.  There  was  some  demur  to  accepting 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  235 

the  responsibility  on  this  condition;  but  on  being 
informed  that  it  was  too  late  to  withdraw,  the  New 
Zealand  Government,  in  February,  1863,  achieved 
independence  in  regard  to  native  administration — 
the  object  of  much  agitation — and,  with  some  mis- 
giving, certainly  with  less  ardour,  undertook  the 
heavy  task  of  finding  some  of  the  money  to  "  pay  the 
piper." 

Meanwhile  the  Governor  left  no  stone  unturned 
in  his  efforts  to  conciliate  the  disaffected  chiefs.  He 
refused  to  enforce  the  terms  published  by  his  prede- 
cessor, hoping  thereby  to  gain  time  for  negotiation 
and  to  give  the  Maori  leaders  an  opportunity  of 
burying  the  hatchet.  Tamati  Ngapora,  an  old  chief, 
friendly  to  the  Government,  went  to  the  Waikato 
and  tried  to  persuade  the  chiefs  that  Grey's  inten- 
tions were  peaceful.  He  had  little  success.  "  Who 
fought  Hone  Heke  and  Rangihaeata  ?  "  they  asked. 
IA  few  of  them  visited  Auckland  and  saw  the  Gov- 
ernor, but  they  would  abate  nothing  of  their  resolu- 
tion to  have  a  king  and  be  independent,  and  the  inter- 
view was  merely  a  verbal  fencing  match.  Then  Grey 
set  about  hatching  a  scheme  for  the  better  government 
of  the  Maoris:  the  weakness  of  which  was  that, 
whilst  it  provided  for  making  laws,  it  made  no  pro- 
vision for  exacting  obedience  and  putting  an  end  to 
lawlessness — the  one  thing  needful.  By  this  new 
policy  all  the  territory  occupied  by  the  natives  was 
divided  into  twenty  districts,  each  to  be  controlled 
by  an  English  Commissioner.  Each  district  waa 
further  divided  into  six  hundreds  with  two  native 
magistrates,  a  warden  and  five  policemen,  who  were 
to  be  paid  by  the  Government.  The  magistrates 
from  the  hundreds  constituted  the  district  Runanga, 
which  had  power  to  make  bye-laws  about  trespass, 


236  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

drunkenness,  etc.,  these  bye-laws  to  be  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Governor  and  his  Ministers. 

The  experiment  was  first  tried  on  the  loyal 
Ngapuhi,  who,  having  assured  themselves  as  to  the 
amount  of  salary  to  be  distributed,  exclaimed  with 
one  consent,  "  Great  is  the  excellence  of  Governor 
Grey's  scheme."  Its  inauguration  among  the  Wai- 
katos  was,  however,  another  matter.  Some  of  the 
chiefs  who  had  formerly  received  pay  as  assessors, 
were,  indeed,  eager  to  share  in  the  plunder;  but  the 
great  majority  regarded  the  scheme  as  another  in- 
stance of  elaborate  maminga  or  humbug,  intended 
really  to  strike  a  blow  at  their  king.  "  Ti  Oriori 
said  that  the  usual  way  of  catching  owls  was  for 
one  man  to  shake  some  object  before  the  bird  to  at- 
tract attention,  while  his  mate  slipped  a  noose  over 
its  head  from  behind ;  so  Sir  George  Grey  had  sent 
his  mate  to  dazzle  them  with  laws  and  institutions, 
while  he  was  watching  his  chance  of  entangling  them 
in  the  meshes  of  the  Queen's  sovereignty."  Grey 
himself  was  present  at  a  great  meeting  at  Taupari, 
where  he  made  a  long  speech  and  answered  ques- 
tions as  to  his  policy.  The  leaders  of  the  king  party 
were  absent — an  ominous  circumstance,  and  the 
speechifying  was  entrusted  to  orators,  who  endeav- 
oured, skilfully  but  unsuccessfully,  to  draw  from 
the  Governor  a  distinct  statement  as  to  his  intentions 
with  regard  to  their  king.  He  pooh-poohed  the  king 
business,  warned  them  of  its  possible  evil  conse- 
quences, but  maintained  a  discreet  silence  as  to  what 
action  he  had  in  view.  There  was  one  matter,  how- 
ever, on  which  he  was  unpalatably  plain-spoken.  He 
made  it  clear  that  he  intended  to  prosecute  road 
making.  Several  years  before,  the  Auckland  Pro- 
vincial Council  had  begun  a  road  through  the  Hunua 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  237 

forest  to  the  Waikato,  but  the  work  had  been  aban- 
doned owing  chiefly  to  the  opposition  of  the  natives, 
and  the  road,  half  formed  and  neglected,  became  in 
wet  weather  an  impassable  quagmire.  Grey  now 
employed  large  gangs  of  soldiers  in  reforming  and 
metalling  it,  and  in  extending  it  to  the  river;  and 
the  determination  with  which  he  pushed  on  the  work 
was  convincing  proof  to  the  Maoris  that  he  meant 
war. 

Some  time  afterwards  the  new  institutions  were 
put  in  force  at  Taupari  and  a  district  Runanga  as- 
sembled to  manufacture  laws — a  congenial  task. 
Some  of  their  resolutions  were  extremely  amusing 
and  furnish  good  examples  of  their  ideas  of  legis- 
lative functions.  "  We  agree  that  the  Government 
should  give  us  eight  bullocks  to  plough  the  land  with ; 
that  the  Governor  should  give  us  grass-seed  for  our 
farms:  but  let  it  be  clean  seed — do  not  let  there  be 
any  noxious  weed  mixed  with  it."  They  further 
asked  for  a  court-house,  a  blacksmith,  a  doctor,  who 
was  to  be  an  elderly  man  who  would  not  misconduct 
himself  with  the  women  or  drink  rum.  This  run- 
anga,  held  in  a  friendly  district,  was  sufficient  in- 
dication of  what  success  might  be  expected  among 
tribes  more  opposed  to  European  intervention.  The 
new  policy  was,  indeed,  a  failure ;  it  made  no  head- 
way at  all  among  the  King  natives ;  and  in  any  case 
it  had  the  fatal  defect  that  it  entrusted  law-making 
and  government  to  men  who,  even  when  they  were 
friendly,  were  like  roystering  schoolboys  who  had 
never  learned  to  obey. 

All  attempts  to  negotiate  "  face  to  face  "  with  the 
Waikato  leaders  were  abortive.  Fox  had  received 
the  Governor's  permission  to  interview  Tamilian  a 
and  others,  and  to  propose  to  them  the  settlement  of 


238  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  Waitara  dispute  by  a  tribunal  consisting  of  two 
Europeans  and  four  Maoris;  for  Fox  had  always 
held  that  we  were  in  the  wrong  about  Teira's  land, 
and  thought  that  concession  on  that  point  would  re- 
store the  confidence  of  the  Maoris  in  our  desire  to 
deal  justly  by  them.  He  saw  many  important  chiefs, 
but  not  Tamihana,  who  appears  to  have  avoided  an 
interview;  and  the  general  opinion  was  that,  as 
Waitara  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  Tamihana, 
nothing  could  be  done  without  his  decision.  The 
King-maker,  however,  in  a  letter  to  Fox,  stated  that 
he  "  would  not  agree  to  Waitara  being  investigated." 
His  disingenuous  procedure  convinced  the  Prime 
Minister  that  he  was  not  really  desirous  of  re-estab- 
lishing friendly  relations  with  the  Government,  and 
that  he  was  playing  us  false. 

In  January,  1863,  Grey  went  to  Ngaruawahaa, 
and  had  an  interview  with  Tamihana,  but  nothing 
came  of  it.  Tamihana  stoutly  declared  his  deter- 
mination to  support  the  king  movement  and  to  "  re- 
sist the  introduction  of  steamers  on  the  Waikato 
river,"  but  expressed  himself  as  not  opposed  to  the 
resumption  by  the  Government  of  the  Tataraimaka 
land,  to  which  our  title  was  unquestioned  and  from 
which  the  Taranaki  settlers  had  been  ousted  during 
the  recent  disturbances,  and  which  armed  bodies  of 
natives  still  held.  Foiled  in  his  endeavour  to  come 
to  a  settlement  with  Tamihana,  Grey,  in  April, 
went  to  Taranaki.  He  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
abandon  the  Waitara  claim,  but  he  very  unwisely 
postponed  the  announcement  of  his  intention  until 
he  had  sent  soldiers  to  re-occupy  the  land  at  Tata- 
raimaka. When  this  move  was  reported  in  Waikato, 
the  war  chiefs  of  the  King  party  immediately  sent  a 
message  to  the  Taranaki  natives  to  begin  their  eliootr 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  239 

ing;  which  they  promptly  did,  attacking  and  kill- 
ing a  party  of  Queen's  troops  who  were  convoying 
some  carts  between  Taranaki  and  Tataraimaka. 
Grey,  when  it  was  too  late,  then  announced  that  the 
purchase  of  Teira's  land  would  not  be  completed, 
a  concession  which  seemed  to  the  Maoris  a  sure  in- 
dication of  fear  and  weakness. 

Concurrently,  events  were  happening  in  Waikato 
which  showed  the  warlike  intentions  of  the  King 
natives.  Mr.  Gorst  had  been  placed  at  Awamatu, 
in  the  heart  of  the  Waikato,  as  a  magistrate,  but 
not  being  allowed  to  act  in  that  capacity,  he  had 
established  a  school  and  set  up  a  printing  press,  from 
which  he  issued  the  Pihoihoi  (the  Ground  Lark), 
a  newspaper  intended  to  combat  the  Maori  organ, 
which  was  styled  the  Hokioi  (the  Phoenix).  Ap- 
parently the  Pihoihoi  got  the  better  of  the  wordy 
warfare,  and  the  Maoris  determined  to  put  an  end 
to  its  carolling.  A  party  of  them  carried  off  press, 
type,  and  other  material;  and  some  time  later  ex- 
pelled Mr.  Gorst  from  the  district.  About  the  same 
time,  a  more  serious  incident  had  taken  place.  Sir 
George  Grey  had  ordered  the  construction  of  a  court- 
house and  police  barracks  on  the  lower  Waikato; 
but  when  the  timbers  were  all  ready,  a  party  of 
King  natives,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  friend- 
lies,  threw  the  whole  of  the  material  into  the  river. 

Evidence  was  soon  forthcoming  that  the  rebels 
were  preparing  for  a  hostile  movement.  Letters 
and  circulars  were  intercepted  which  disclosed  a 
plan  for  the  "  wholesale  destruction  of  the  European 
settlements."  Auckland  was  to  be  attacked  and 
made  desolate,  and  the  tribes  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  other  settlements  were  conjured  to  "  sweep  out 
their  yards  "  and  "  drive  the  Europeans  into  the  sea." 


240  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Tamihana,  King-maker  and  for  a  long  time  Peace- 
maker, consented  to  this  plan  of  campaign.  "  I 
shall  spare  neither  unarmed  people  nor  property. 
If  they  prove  the  strongest,  well  and  good.  If  the 
Maoris  prove  the  strongest,  this  is  how  it  will  be: 
the  unarmed  will  not  be  left."  No  doubt  he  was  to 
some  extent  driven  to  this  declaration  by  the  fervour 
of  the  war  party,  which  had  all  along  ridiculed  his 
peace  policy;  but  many  disappointments  had  also 
envenomed  him  against  the  Government,  and  he  was 
now  content  to  let  loose  the  dogs  of  war.  Grey,  too, 
after  months  of  fruitless  negotiation  and  scheming, 
saw  no  alternative  but  war,  and  made  his  prepara- 
tions accordingly. 

General  Cameron,  who  was  now  in  command  in 
Taranaki,  where  he  had  been  successful  in  an  en- 
gagement at  Kaitikara,  was  hastily  recalled  to  Auck- 
land with  all  his  troops,  except  a  small  garrison  left 
to  guard  New  Plymouth.  With  as  little  delay  as 
possible  a  large  force  was  sent  to  the  front,  and  on 
July  12th  General  Cameron  crossed  the  Maungata- 
whiri  creek,  an  affluent  of  the  Waikato,  and  estab- 
lished his  advance  guard  in  a  redoubt  on  the  Koheroa 
hills.  The  day  before,  a  iaua,  marching  in  two 
separate  columns,  had  left  Ngaruawahia,  with  the 
intention  of  attacking  Auckland.  One  of  these  col- 
umns actually  got  to  the  rear  of  Cameron's  forces, 
and  scored  a  success  in  an  encounter  with  an  escort 
party.  The  other  column  was  intercepted  by  the 
force  stationed  at  Koheroa,  and  after  a  smart  en- 
gagement put  to  flight  and  dispersed.  This  defeat 
convinced  the  Maoris  of  the  impracticability  of  an 
attack  upon  Auckland. 

It  was  then  reported  that  a  large  body  of  natives 
•were  engaged  in  digging  trenches  and  fortifying 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  241 

themselves  at  Meri-Meri,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Waikato,  and  only  a  few  miles  distant  from  our 
front.  A  rapid  movement  would  have  caught  them 
unprepared,  and  although  they  were  supposed  to 
have  1000  fighting  men,  the  forces  under  Cameron, 
properly  handled,  would  have  had  little  difficulty  in 
inflicting  a  blow  which  might  have  terminated  the 
war.  The  General,  however,  who  was  cautious  and 
methodical  to  the  last  degree,  had  no  intention  of 
surprising  the  enemy  or  his  colonial  critics  by  any- 
thing so  reckless  as  a  march  of  three  miles  on  short 
rations.  He  frittered  away  weeks  and  months  in 
waiting  for  supplies,  which,  instead  of  being  sent 
up  the  river,  which  offered  every  facility  for  their 
transport,  were  dragged  laboriously  along  the  mili- 
tary road,  where,  at  various  points,  the  escorts  were 
liable  to  be  pounced  upon  by  native  marauders. 
Cameron  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  maxim  that 
"  armies  march  on  their  bellies,"  and  would  not 
move  until  the  last  cask  of  bread  and  barrel  of  beef 
had  reached  their  destination. 

The  physical  difficulties  offered  to  an  army  ma- 
nffiuvring  in  the  Waikato  district  were  trifling  com- 
pared with  those  that  had  to  be  encountered  in  some 
parts  of  Taranaki.  From  the  point  at  which  the 
Auckland  road  met  the  river,  up  to  the  junction  of 
the  Waikato  and  Waipa,  an  invading  army  had  few 
obstacles  except  an  occasional  creek  or  swamp,  in 
the  flax  or  raupo  of  which  an  ambuscade  might  easily 
be  arranged ;  and  the  triangle  formed  by  the  Waipa 
and  the  Waikato  is  a  great  plain,  containing  few  ele- 
vations and  practically  treeless. 

It  was  not  till  the  end  of  October  that  the  General 
had  completed  his  arrangements  for  an  advance.  "By 
that  time  two  steamers  had  been  placed  on  the  river, 

Q 


242  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

in  one  of  which  he  reconnoitred  the  position  at  Meri- 
Meri,  the  front  of  which  extended  along  the  river 
and  was  trenched  and  rifle-pitted  in  all  directions. 
It  was  decided  to  attack  on  the  flanks,  and  612  men 
were  despatched  in  the  steamers  to  a  point  Borne 
miles  above  Meri-Meri,  whilst  General  Cameron 
himself,  with  another  force,  threatened  the  enemy's 
right  flank.  These  manoeuvres  alarmed  the  natives, 
and  before  a  shot  was  fired  they  abandoned  their 
entrenchments,  and  escaped  in  canoes  up  the  Mara- 
marua  and  Wangamarino  creeks,  which  at  this  time 
were  flooded  and  easily  navigable.  It  was  a  barren 
victory,  for  the  Maoris  to  a  man  had  eluded  our 
grasp,  and  concentrated  for  another  stand  at  Rangi- 
riri,  about  twelve  miles  higher  up  the  river.  The 
position  they  had  taken  up  there  was  a  strong  one, 
but  it  lacked — an  unusual  thing  in  a  Maori  strong- 
hold— a  back  door  by  means  of  which  they  could  give 
us  the  slip  when  hard-pressed.  They  had  thrown  up 
entrenchments  right  across  the  narrow  isthmus  which 
separated  the  Waikarei  lake  from  the  Waikato,  and 
had  also  rifle-pitted  the  ground  for  some  distance 
along  the  river  bank.  To  the  entrenchments  across 
the  isthmus  they  had  added  a  formidable  square  re- 
doubt, the  parapet  of  which  was  said  to  have  been 
twenty-one  feet  high.  Whilst  General  Cameron  ad- 
vanced against  Rangiriri  by  land  with  771  men  and 
a  couple  of  Armstrong  guns,  an  additional  force  of 
500  soldiers  and  marines  was  convoyed  up  the  river 
by  four  gunboats,  and  landed  at  a  position  which 
would  enable  it  to  take  the  enemy  in  the  rear  and 
prevent  his  escape.  Owing  to  some  delay  in  getting 
up  the  river,  the  land  force  was  the  first  to  reach  its 
position  in  front  of  the  entrenchments.  After  pour- 
ing in  a  heavy  fire  from  the  Armstrong  guns,  storm- 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  243 

ing  parties  were  hurled  against  the  redoubt;  but 
four  separate  assaults  were  repelled  by  the  fire  of 
the  Maori  tuparas,  which  at  short  range  were  more 
deadly  than  the  Enfield  rifle.  It  was  a  useless  waste 
of  life,  for  surrounded  on  all  sides,  and  with  only  a 
scanty  supply  of  food,  the  Maoris  could  have  no 
choice  but  surrender  or  submit  to  an  attack  in  the 
open,  at  which  they  were  sure  to  be  worsted.  After 
the  failure  of  the  last  assault,  General  Cameron  de- 
sisted and  the  troops  bivouacked  for  the  night.  At 
the  rear,  in  the  meantime,  the  force  landed  from  the 
steamers  had  observed  that  some  of  the  natives  were 
escaping  by  the  lake  and  the  swamp;  a  heavy  fire 
was  directed  upon  the  fugitives,  and  no  further  at- 
tempt was  made  to  escape  in  that  direction.  At  day- 
light the  next  morning  a  white  flag  was  hoisted,  and 
183  warriors  surrendered  unconditionally.  Our  loss 
of  35  men  killed  and  85  wounded  was  wholly  un- 
necessary. With  a  little  patience  not  a  man  need 
have  been  sacrificed. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  Ngaruawahia,  the  Maori 
capital,  was  occupied  without  opposition;  but  the 
old  difficulty  of  getting  supplies  to  the  front  delayed 
a  further  advance  for  nearly  two  months.  In  the 
meantime  the  rebels  had  fortified  themselves  at 
Paterangi  and  Pikopiko,  positions  about  forty  miles 
up  the  Waipa  River.  When  the  commissariat  ar- 
rangements were  completed  (January,  1864)  Gen- 
eral Cameron  advanced  slowly  by  way  of  the  Waipa, 
which  snags  and  sandbanks  rendered  difficult  of 
navigation.  Judging  that  Pikopiko  and  Paterangi 
were  too  strong  to  be  carried  by  assault,  he  slipped 
past  them,  and  with  1000  men  made  a  rapid  night 
march  upon  Awamatu,  from  which  the  natives,  taken 
entirely  by  surprise,  were  easily  expelled.  This  sue- 


244  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

cess  and  the  capture  of  Rangioawhia  caused  the 
evacuation  of  Paterangi,  the  defenders  of  which, 
having  afterwards  begun  to  entrench  themselves  in 
a  new  position,  were  surprised  and  routed  with  se- 
vere loss. 

Having  heard  that  Tamihana  had  collected  a  large 
force  of  rebels  at  Maungatautari  on  the  Horutiu 
branch  of  the  Waikato,  General  Cameron  determined 
to  march  against  him,  and  for  that  purpose  sent  sup- 
plies by  river  to  Pukerimu ;  but  before  he  could 
carry  out  this  intention  Brigadier-General  Carey,  left 
in  command  of  the  troops  at  Awamatu,  had  brought 
on  a  combat  which  furnished  the  most  picturesque 
incident  of  the  war.  A  report  having  been  received 
that  Rewi  Maniopoto,  the  most  irreconcilable  of  the 
Maori  leaders,  and  some  300  followers,  had  estab- 
lished themselves  in  a  strong  position  at  Orakau, 
Carey  marched  off  by  night  with  1000  men,  and  be- 
fore dawn  completely  invested  the  pa.  After  mak- 
ing two  fruitless  assaults,  he  wisely  confined  his 
operations  to  the  safer  methods  of  sapping.  General 
Cameron,  with  reinforcements,  soon  arrived  on  the 
scene,  and  hearing  that  there  were  a  number  of 
women  and  children  in  the  pa,  he  sent  an  interpreter 
to  invite  Rewi  to  surrender.  The  reply  was  a 
memorable  one :  "  This  is  the  word  of  the  Maori :  we 
will  fight  on  for  ever,  and  ever,  and  ever."  And 
when  he  was  urged  to  send  out  the  women  and 
children,  he  replied,  "  The  women  will  fight  as  well 
as  we."  These  were  brave  words  for  men  who  had 
no  water  and  no  food  except  a  few  raw  potatoes  and 
who  were  surrounded  by  nearly  seven  times  their 
own  number.  Their  case  seemed  absolutely  hope- 
less; but  the  unexpected,  one  might  almost  say  the 
impossible,  happened.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the 


THE  WAR  IN  WAIKATO.  245 

third  day  of  the  siege,  the  garrison  evacuated  the  pa 
marching  "  in  a  solid  column,  the  women,  the 
children  and  the  great  chiefs  in  the  centre,"  and  as 
"  cool  and  steady  as  if  they  had  been  going  to 
church."  The  side  from  which  they  issued  was 
guarded  by  the  40th  regiment,  which  had  been  dis- 
posed in  lines  under  the  shelter  of  a  bank.  Not  a 
man  of  them  appears  to  have  known  of  the  escape, 
until  the  fugitives,  breaking  into  a  run,  leapt,  it  is 
said,  right  over  the  recumbent  soldiers,  and,  dashing 
through  a  second  line,  reached  cover  in  a  swamp  and 
some  ti-tree  scrub.  Unfortunately  for  them,  a  small 
cavalry  force  riding  rapidly  round,  charged  into 
them  as  they  came  out  at  the  other  side,  and  cut 
them  to  pieces.  Only  about  100,  Rewi  among  them, 
managed  to  make  good  their  escape.  The  Orakau 
defeat  was  practically  the  end  of  the  Waikato  cam- 
paign, for  Maungatautari,  against  which  the  General 
now  marched,  was  evacuated  at  his  approach,  the 
fighting  men  retiring  to  the  forests  and  hills  to  the 
south,  whither  it  was  considered  useless  to  follow 
them.  Attention  was  therefore  turned  to  Tauranga 
where  Tamihana  and  his  people  had  large  posses- 
sions. The  Maoris  in  that  district  had  supplied  the 
Waikatos  with  food  and  many  of  them  had  taken 
part  in  the  recent  fighting.  The  occupation  of  the 
district  was,  therefore,  considered  to  be  of  great  im- 
portance, and  in  January  the  Governor  had  de- 
spatched thither  a  force  of  500  men  under  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Carey  who,  on  his  promotion  to 
Brigadier-General,  was  replaced  by  Lieutenant-Col- 
onel Greer.  This  force  was  stationed  at  Te  Papa, 
but  beyond  giving  occasional  aid  to  the  friendly 
Arawas  who  were  successful  in  checking  the  threat- 
ened advance  of  hostile  Eastern  tribes  to  Waikato, 


24:6  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

it  remained  more  or  less  inactive  until  the  end  of 
April.  It  was  then  discovered  that  a  large  body 
of  rebels,  most  of  them  men  who  had  returned  from 
Waikato,  were  forming  an  entrenchment,  afterwards 
known  as  the  Gate  Pa,  on  a  hillock  skirted  on  either 
side  by  swamps.  On  hearing  of  this,  General 
Cameron  himself  moved  down  to  Tauranga  with 
strong  reinforcements,  and  surrounded  the  Maoris, 
who  did  not  number  more  than  300,  with  an  over- 
whelming display  of  troops  and  big  guns.  It  was  a 
case  of  six  to  one,  to  say  nothing  of  Armstrong  guns 
(one  being  a  110  pounder),  howitzers,  mortars  and 
cohorns;  yet  the  Maoris  not  only  eluded  us  in  the 
end  but  managed  to  inflict  upon  us  defeat  and  dis- 
grace. After  a  cannonade  which,  as  a  spectator 
observed,  might  "  have  smothered  Sebastop.ol,"  a 
naval  brigade  of  150  men  and  a  like  number  of  the 
43rd  regiment,  were  told  off  to  carry  the  redoubt. 
They  had  no  sooner  entered  the  breach,  than  they 
were  seized  with  panic  and,  rushing  out  again,  cry- 
ing "  There's  thousands  of  them !  "  broke  into  a 
shameless  flight,  in  which  numbers  of  them  were 
mowed  down  by  the  concentrated  fire  of  the  Maoris. 
Our  loss  was  93  killed  and  wounded.  During  the 
night  the  enemy  escaped  through  our  investing  lines, 
apparently  without  much  difficulty. 

The  43rd  soon  had  an  opportunity  of  wiping  out 
this  disgrace  in  an  attack  upon  the  Te  Ranga  pa, 
which  they  stormed  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  in  the 
most  gallant  manner.  In  this  engagement,  in  which 
a  small  force  of  cavalry  was  employed  with  signal 
effect,  the  Maoris  suffered  severely,  no  less  than  109 
of  them  being  found  dead  on  the  field. 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  247 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

THE  HAU-HAUS. 

WITH  the  fall  of  Te  Kanga  (June  21st,  1864), 
there  was  a  lull ;  but  although  Tamihana  threw  up 
the  game  and  made  his  peace,  fighting  was  soon  to 
break  out  again  in  a  new  and  more  serious  form. 
It  continued,  with  now  and  then  a  breathing-space, 
to  the  year  1870.  This  recrudescence  was  chiefly 
due  to  the  appearance  of  the  singular  Hau-Hau 
superstition,  which  appealed  to  the  most  ferocious 
instincts  of  the  Maori  race,  and  gave  a  more  savage 
character  to  the  wars  that  followed. 

How  it  originated  is  still  far  from  clear.  It 
would  seem  to  have  been  the  desperate  device  of  men 
who  needed  a  stronger  bond  of  union  and  a  greater 
stimulus  than  were  to  be  found  in  a  political  organi- 
sation like  the  King  movement.  We  knew  nothing 
of  it,  however,  until  the  early  part  of  1864.  In 
April  of  that  year  Captain  Lloyd  with  a  Hundred 
men  having  gone  out  of  Kaitaki  pa  (about  10  miles 
south  of  New  Plymouth),  with  the  intention  of 
scouring  the  neighbouring  hills  and  laying  waste  any 
Maori  cultivation  he  might  meet  with,  was  suddenly 
set  upon  by  a  large  body  of  rebels.  The  soldiers 
were  utterly  routed,  and  Captain  Lloyd  and  seven 
others  were  killed.  The  victors  chopped  off  the 
heads  of  the  slain  and  drank  their  blood. 

A  few  days  later,  Maori  "  historians  "  relate,  the 
angel  Gabriel  appeared  to  those  who  drank  the  blood 


248  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

of  the  victims,  and  commanded  that  Captain  Lloyd's 
head  should  be  cured  after  the  native  manner,  and 
then  carried  throughout  the  country,  for  henceforth 
it  would  be  the  medium  by  which  Jehovah  would  re- 
veal himself  to  the  Maoris.  Surely  no  white  man's 
head  has  ever  been  put  to  such  singular  use!  As 
soon  as  it  was  dug  up  from  the  place  in  which  they 
had  first  buried  it,  the  oraculous  Head  appointed 
Te  TJa — a  weak  blend  of  Mahomet  and  Joe  Smith — 
to  be  its  high  priest,  and  Hepaniah  and  Rangitauira 
to  be  assistants,  and  revealed  to  them  the  nature  of 
the  new  religion,  which  was  to  take  the  place  of  the 
false  religion  taught  by  the  white  man's  Scriptures. 
Henceforth,  it  said,  they  need  have  no  fear,  for  Ga- 
briel, with  his  celestial  legions,  would  overwhelm 
their  foes,  provided,  however,  that  they  held  fast  to 
the  faith.  Its  tenets  were  remarkably  simple.  That 
the  race  might  grow  and  multiply,  marriage  was  to 
be  set  aside,  and  men  and  women  were  to  live  to- 
gether as  seemed  good  in  their  own  eyes.  The 
priests  of  the  Head  were  endowed  with  superhuman 
powers:  they  could  ensure  victory  by  barking  like 
dogs — Hau-Hau,  and  could  make  their  followers  im- 
pervious to  the  bullets  of  the  Pakehas.  The  Euro- 
peans would  be  exterminated  or  expelled  from  the 
land,  and  then  angels  would  descend  from  heaven 
to  teach  the  Maoris  all  the  arts  and  sciences.  This 
programme  was  easily  intelligible  and  was  very 
seductive. 

In  a  few  weeks  one  article  of  their  faith  was  to  be 
put  to  a  crucial  test — that  which  assured  them  that 
the  true  believer  was  bullet-proof.  Some  miles 
north  of  "New  Plymouth  a  small  garrison  under 
Captain  Shortt  held  a  redoubt  called  Sentry  Hill. 
One  moonlight  night  the  sentries  saw  a  single  Maori 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  249 

coming  across  the  flat,  waving  his  arms  about  in  a  re- 
markable fashion,  and  singing  what  they  took  to  be 
some  Maori  song.  When  he  reached  the  parapet,  some 
of  the  men  wished  to  fire  at  him ;  but  the  officers  told 
them  to  go  out  and  take  him.  As  a  sergeant  was 
about  to  execute  this  order,  the  Maori  jumped  up 
and  flung  a  stone  at  him,  and  then  running  away 
some  distance,  sat  down  and  resumed  his  singing, 
only  decamping  when  the  soldiers  had  fired  a  couple 
of  volleys  at  him.  A  few  days  after  this  incident, 
the  people  in  the  redoubt  heard  the  Maoris  in  the 
Manutahi  pa  singing  war  songs,  and  soon  a  party 
of  300  of  them  were  observed  to  be  marching  in  solid 
column,  four  abreast,  in  the  direction  of  Sentry  Hill. 
They  kept  up  an  incessant  barking  and  yelling  which 
astonished  the  soldiers  lying  behind  the  parapet  and 
waiting  quietly  for  the  signal  to  fire.  A  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  from  the  redoubt,  the  Maoris  came  to 
a  halt,  and  then  the  garrison,  standing  up,  poured 
rifle-fire  and  grape-shot  into  the  mass.  At  first  they 
stood  without  flinching,  apparently  expecting  the 
bullets  to  be  turned  aside  or  Gabriel's  legions  to 
come  to  their  rescue,  but  when  numbers  of  them 
began  to  fall  before  the  rain  of  lead,  they  took  to 
their  heels.  Thirty-four  killed  and  wounded  re- 
mained behind,  and  among  the  dead  was  the  prophet 
Hepaniah,  who  was  probably  the  adventurer  who  had 
visited  the  redoubt  a  few  nights  previously. 

Fanaticism,  however,  dies  hard.  Hepaniah's 
death  was  attributed  to  some  misdeed  on  his  part, 
and  Matene,  installed  prophet  in  his  place,  started 
off  to  Waitotara,  bearing  the  oraculous  Head,  on  a 
proselytising  tour.  His  mission  was  successful; 
many  warriors  recently  returned  from  Waikato  were 
converted,  and,  filled  with  ferocious  piety,  prepared 


250  PROGRESS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND. 

to  make  a  descent  upon  Wanganui,  access  to  which 
was  easily  obtainable  by  means  of  the  river. 
When  tidings  of  this  intention  reached  the  settle- 
ment, the  alarm  was  great,  for  the  garrison  was 
small  and  Hau-Hau  had  already  become  a  name 
that  inspired  terror  in  the  hearts  of  the  settlers. 
But  the  Wanganui  natives  came  opportunely  to  the 
rescue.  Three  hundred  of  them,  paddling  in  their 
canoes  seventy  miles  up  the  river,  met  Matene  and 
his  followers  and  warned  them  to  desist.  The  prophet 
said  he  would  wait  two  months,  but  our  allies, 
weary  of  the  suspense,  at  length  challenged  the 
fanatics  to  battle  on  the  island  of  Moutua.  The 
Hau-Haus  consented,  and  also  agreed  to  the  condi- 
tion that  neither  party  should  endeavour  to  take  the 
other  by  surprise.  Moutua  is  about  300  yards  long 
and  20  wide ;  there  was  little  room  for  manoeuvring, 
and  little  cover,  except  such  as  was  provided  by  fern 
and  ti-tree  scrub.  One  morning  by  seven  o'clock 
the  combatants  were  arranged  in  lines  facing  each 
other,  the  Friendlies  calmly  waiting  and  the  Hau- 
Haus  indulging  in  wild  and  grotesque  incantations 
which  lasted  for  two  hours.  Gradually  the  space 
between  them  was  lessened  to  thirty  feet,  at  which 
deadly  range  the  shooting  began.  Men  fell  fast  on 
both  sides  and  the  Wanganui  people,  dismayed  by 
the  loss  of  three  chiefs,  gave  ground  and  finally  fled. 
The  fanatics  were  triumphant.  The  battle,  indeed, 
seemed  lost,  when  a  chief,  by  name  Haimona  Hiroti, 
shouted,  "  I  will  go  no  further,"  and  gathering  a 
score  of  the  doughtier  warriors  about  him,  faced 
round  upon  the  pursuers  with  the  courage  of  despair. 
Firing  a  volley  at  close  quarters,  the  dauntless  few 
then  joined  in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle  with  the  Hau- 
Haus,  who,  with  several  of  their  chiefs  down,  sud- 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  251 

deuly  lost  heart  and  fled  in  their  turn,  pursued  by 
the  Friendlies,  many  of  whom  had  now  rallied. 
Plunging  into  the  river,  the  Hau-Haus  sought  to 
escape  by  swimming,  but  most  of  them  were  shot 
down  before  reaching  the  bank.  The  prophet  Ma- 
tene,  though  wounded,  gained  the  bank,  but  he  was 
immediately  tomahawked  by  a  native  policeman, 
who  had  followed  close  upon  his  heels.  The  rout 
was  complete :  even  the  few  who  escaped  death  were 
grievously  wounded. 

When  the  victors  returned,  bearing  their  dead  with 
them,  all  the  settlers  turned  out  into  the  street  and 
stood  with  bared  heads,  and  the  soldiers  joined  in 
the  procession.  Moutua,  though  a  small  affair,  so 
far  as  the  numbers  engaged  were  concerned,  will 
ever  rank  among  the  most  heroic  battles  fought  upon 
New  Zealand  soil. 

Notwithstanding  their  defeats  at  Sentry  Hill  and 
Moutua,  the  Hau-Haus  were  not  to  be  arrested  in 
their  wild  career.  The  superstition  gained  ground 
rapidly  until  it  embraced  most  of  the  followers  of 
the  king ;  nor  did  it  lose  with  the  lapse  of  time  any 
of  its  repulsive  cruelty.  "  A  large  infusion  of  Ju- 
daism, some  leading  features  of  Mormonism,  a 
little  mesmerism,  a  touch  of  spiritualism,  occasional 
ventriloquism,  and  a  large  amount  of  cannibalism, 
are  the  characteristic  features  which  it  exhibits.  Its 
rites  are  bloody,  sensual,  foul  and  devilish;  the 
least  reprehensible  and  most  orderly  consisting  in 
running  round  a  pole  stuck  in  the  ground,  howling 
and  uttering  gibberish,  till  catalepsy  prostrates  the 
worshippers,  who  sometimes  lie  senseless  on  the 
ground  for  hours.  Their  bitterest  hatred,  and  most 
refined  cruelties,  are  reserved  for  the  missionaries, 
who  are  accused  of  robbing  them  of  their  lands,  by 


252  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

tribes  which  never  sold,  gave  away  or  were  deprived 
of  an  acre."  * 

— -Their  determination  to  prolong  the  struggle  was 
no  doubt  strengthened  by  the  "  policy  of  confisca- 
tion "  now  adopted  by  the  Government.  The  princi- 
pal features  of  this  policy,  as  agreed  upon  by  the  Co- 
lonial Ministry  and  the  Governor,  were :  (1)  Confis- 
cation of  large  tracts  of  native  lands;  (2)  Settlement 
of  military  pensioners  and  large  numbers  of  ordi- 
nary immigrants  upon  portion  of  the  confiscated  ter- 
ritory; (3)  Restoration  of  500,000  acres  to  the 
rebels  who  were  to  be  given  Crown  grants  as  individ- 
uals; and  (4)  Sale  of  the  remainder  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  war  (at  that  time  stated  to  be 
£3,000,000)  and  to  pay  for  the  construction  of  roads. 
This  scheme,  approved  by  the  Governor,  and  to  a 
large  extent  based  upon  that  which  he  had  adopted 
in  British  Kaffraria,  was  rejected  bv  Mr.  Cardwell. 

MwJfc^W^^^^tf^^*IBI'"^^^^i*-w-r 

who  had  replaced  the  Duke  of  Xewcastlo  as  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  the  Colonies.  The  Parliamentary 
opposition  to  it  was  increased  by  the  zeal  of  the 
Aborigines  Protection  Society,  a  body  of  philan- 
thropists who,  in  their  eagerness  to  protect  black 
men,  frequently  forgot  to  be  charitable  to  men  of 
their  own  colour  and  race.  Sir  George  Grey  was 
thus  compelled  to  temporise,  and  the  Fox  Ministry 
resigned  in  disgust.  Their  chagrin  was  not  dimin- 
ished when  a  few  months  later  the  Governor,  on  the 
advice  of  the  Weld  Ministry,  proceeded  with  the 
policy  of  confiscation  on  almost  the  same  lines  as 
Fox  had  indicated.  As  usual,  the  discussion  and 
tne  philanthropical  letters  published  in  the  news- 
papers were  not  unknown  to  the  Maoris,  who,  believ- 

*  Sir  W.  Fox,  TJie  War  in  New  Zealand, 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  253 

ing  that  the  Queen,  and  generally  the  "  good  people 
in  England,"  were  on  their  side,  quietly  grew  their 
crops  and  prepared  to  resume  the  struggle  with  all 
the  added  zest  which  a  malignant  superstition  im- 
parts to  half-savage  natures. 

Although  during  the  Waikato  campaign  there  had 
been  little  fighting  in  Taranaki,  the  natives  of  that 
district  were  still  turbulent.  Gangs  of  marauders 
swept  the  country  and  occasionally  came  to  blows 
with  military  outposts.  For  years  past  the  road  be- 
tween Taranaki  and  Wanganui  had  been  closed  to 
white  men,  and  the  colonists  were  practically  con- 
fined to  the  townships.  To  end  this  reign  of  terror 
and  to  open  the  road  between  the  two  settlements, 
General  Cameron  was  sent  to  Wanganui  with  a  force 
of  6000  soldiers  and  volunteers.  To  oppose  this 
army,  the  natives  had  seven  or  eight  hundred  men 
capable  of  bearing  arms ;  indeed,  as  Mr.  Fox  puts  it, 
"  if  our  troops  had  adopted  the  Hau-Hau  religion 
and  eaten  all  their  enemies,  there  would  not  have 
been  a  leg  or  an  arm  for  each  of  them."  The  dis- 
tance between  Wanganui  and  Taranaki  was  128 
miles,  and  of  this  distance  Colonel  Warre,  com- 
manding in  Taranaki,  had  undertaken  to  clear  90 
miles,  leaving  the  remainder  to  General  Cameron, 
whose  timid  tactics  on  this  occasion  induced  the 
Maoris  to  dub  him  the  "  Lame_£eagull . " 

On  reaching  Wanganui  his  first  business  was  to 
punish  some  rebels  who  had  attacked  and  murdered 
a  party  of  roadmakers  near  the  Waitotara  river. 
With  over  900  men  he  marched  to  the  Waitotara, 
where  a  body  of  natives,  variously  estimated  at  400 
and  600,  made  a  daring  attack  upon  his  camp  at 
^Tukumaru  and  were  only  repelled  with  a  loss,  on 
our  side,  of  30  killed  and  wounded.  Satisfied  with 


254  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

this  inglorious  victory,  the  General  proceeded  with 
infinite  slowness  to  execute  his  intended  march  to- 
wards Taranaki.  Although  the  road  lay  mostly 
along  the  sea-beach  and  was  most  of  it  suitable  for 
carts;  and  although  only  a  handful  of  natives  was 
met,  most  of  them  having  deserted  their  villages  for 
the  bush,  whither  General  Cameron  was  not  disposed 
to  follow  them;  yet  it  took  eight  weeks  to  traverse 
a  distance  of  fifty  miles.  Having  accomplished  so 
much,  the  army  went  into  "  winter  quarters  " — p. 
curious  libel  on  the  climate  of  the  North  Island — 
and  the  General  returned  to  Auckland. 
<Cln  the  midst  of  these  "  vigorous  "  operations  a 
remarkable  correspondence  had  been  carried  on  be- 
tween the  General  and  the  Governor.  Towards  the 
end  of  January  the  General  strongly  urged  the  Gov- 
ernor to  apply  for  a  reinforcement  of  2000  men,  and 
when  the  Governor  replied  that,  in  his  opinion,  rein- 
forcements were  quite  unnecessary,  the  General 
solemnly  declared  that  the  occupation  of  the  country 
between  Patea  and  Taranaki  instead  of  taking  two 
years  would  require  twenty. '  '^  He  followed  this  up 
by  stating  that  the  purchase"  of  Waitotara  was,  like 
the  purchase  of  the  Waitara  block,  an  "  iniquitous 
job,"  for  which  sweeping  statement  he  declined  to 
give  any  authority.  There  were  many,  however, 
who  shared  his  opinion  that  the  war  was  an  inglo- 
rious affair  and  might  have  been  avoided ;  a  circum- 
stance which  partly  explains  the  half-heartedness 
that  characterised  many  of  the  operations  of  the 
regular  troops. 

Another  subject  of  dispute  gave  the  Governor  an 
opportunity  of  showing  his  skill  as  a  soldier.  When 
General  Cameron  began  his  march  along  the  coast, 
he  left  in  his  rear  the  Wereroa  pa,  a  strongly  forti- 

^»«--' 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  255 

fied  position,  occupied  by  300  Maoris,  who  threat- 
ened his  communications  and  were  also  a  source  of 
anxiety  to  the  people  of  Wanganui.  When  the  Gov- 
ernor pointed  out  the  .necessity  of  destroying 
Wereroa,  the  General  replied  that  he  considered  his 
force  insufficient  to  attack  so  formidable  a  work. 
Two  thousand  men  would  be  required,  and  he  could 
not  spare  that  number.  Grey  then  informed  him 
that  500  friendly  natives  were  anxious  to  make  the 
attempt  and  that  he  would  allow  them  to  do  so,  pro- 
vided it  did  not  interfere  with  the  General's  opera- 
tions. The  latter  was  hugely  amused  at.  this 
instance  of  what  he  called  native  bounce.  ..The  Gov- 
ernor, however,  weary  of  delay,  decided  to  take  the 
matter  in  his  own  hands.  ,  He  got  together  a  force 
consisting  of  309  friendly  natives,  139  Colonial 
Rangers,  and  ^5  Wanganui  Cavalry,  and  obtained 
a  grudging  permission  from  the  military  authorities 
to  use  200  of  the  troops  as  "  moral  support."  The 
"moral  supports  "  were  placed  like  dummies  in  front 
of  the  pa,  but  took  no  part  in  the  subsequent  fighting ; 
whilst  the  native  and  Colonial  contingent  undertook 
a  difficult  march  through  the  bush  with  the  object  of 
capturing  a  redoubt  which  commanded  the  pa  from 
the  rear.  In  this  they  were  entirely  successful,  dis- 
persing a  body  of  rebels  coming  to  the  assistance  of 
the  pa,  and  capturing  the  redoubt  without  the  loss  of 
a  man.  Seeing  that  their  position  was  no  longer 
tenable,  the  occupants  of  the  pa  fled  with  precipita- 
tion, and  might  have  been  severely  handled  in  their 
retreat,  had  the  "  moral  supports  "  been  allowed  to 
use  their  guns.  ,,JXhis  brilliant  bit  of  strategy  QC£ 
cupied  but  two  days  .and  added  fresh  lustre  to  the 
Governor's  reputation.  The  Home  Government, 
however,  ignored  his  part  in  the  affair  by  bestowing 


256  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

a  C.B.  on  the  officer  commanding  the  troops  who 
had  not  fired  a  shot ! 

In  the  meantime  grave  questions  were  occupying 
the  attention  of  the  Colonial  Parliament.  These 
questions  were:  (1)  the .  withdrawal  of  Imperial 
troops,  (2)  changing  the  seat  of  government  from 
Auckland  to  Wellington,  and  (3)  the  state  of  the 
finances  of  the  Colony.  Sir  Frederick  Weld  who 
became  Prime  Minister  in  Xovember,  186-i,  was  a 
strong  advocate  of  the  Self-Reliance  Policy,  which 
meant  the  withdrawal  of  the  British  forces  in  the 
Colony.  There  were  serious  objections  to  this 
policy.  The  war  was  still  far  from  being  at  an  end, 
and  for  the  Colony  to  raise  a  force  sufficient  to  cope 
with  the  rebellion  seemed  a  huge  undertaking.  On 
the  other  hand  the  Imperial  troops  were  a  great 
drain  upon  the  Colonial  Treasury,  and  their  useful- 
ness did  not  seem  to  be  in  proportion  either  to  their 
numbers  or  to  the  expenditure  they  involved.  After 
some  debate  both  Houses  agreed  to  take  the  plunge, 
to  withdraw  the  British  regiments  as  soon  as  it  could 
be  done  conveniently  and  tq  carry  on  the  war  with 
militia  and  native  auxiliaries.^  The  Home  Govern- 
ment approved  of  this  step  and  gave  instructions  for 
the  removal  of  the  troops.  Instead,  however,  of  con- 
sulting the  Governor  in  the  matter,  it  gave  to  Gen- 
eral Cameron  almost  entire  discretion :  a  proceeding 
which  drew  a  vigorous  remonstrance  from  the  Gov- 
ernor and  added  much  to  the  bitterness  of  the  contro- 
versy raging  between  him  and  the  General.  In  the 
end  the  Colonial  Secretary  withdrew  his  former  in- 
structions and  bestowed  upon  Grey  an  authority 
which  rightly  belonged  to  him  in  virtue  of  his  com- 
mission as  Governor  and  Commander-in-chief. 

In  consequence  of  the  decision  to  do  without  the 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  257 

Imperial  troops,  the  long  and  arduous  guerilla  war- 
fare that  followed  the  rise  of  Hau-Hauism  devolved 
chiefly  upon  Colonial  militia  and  their  native  allies. 
For  bush  fighting  they  were  much  superior  to  the 
regular  soldiers  whose  training  incapacitated  them 
from     rapid    marching    through    densely    wooded 
country,  where  at  every  turn  a  native  ambush  might 
disclose  itself.     The  first  militia  levies  were  expc-r 
rienced  bushmen,  who,  without  troubling  themselvesX 
much  about  commissariat  arrangements,  tracked  the  I 
rebels  to  their  forest  lairs  with  an  energy  and  cra.fj/ 
which  confounded  them. 

For  years  the  Southern  members  had  inveighed 
against  the  inconvenience  of  having  the  seat  of  Gov- 
ernment at  Auckland,  but  Auckland  provincialists 
were,  naturally  enough,  bitterly  opposed  to  such  a 
change.  The  argument  they  most  relied  upon  was 
that  it  would  be  dangerous,  in  the  midst  of  native 
disturbances,  to  take  a  step  which  might  further 
weaken  the  loyalty  of  the  native  inhabitants  of  the 
province  of  Auckland.  In  1863,  however,  an  Act 
was  passed  appointing  a  Commission  to  report  upon 
the  subject;  and  the  Commissioners,  selected  from 
the  Australian  Colonies,  recommended  Wellington 
as  the  capital.  When  it  became  known  that  Sir 
Frederick  Weld  had  decided  to  adopt  this  recom- 
mendation, the  exasperation  of  the  Aucklanders 
knew  no  bounds.  They  went  so  far  as  to  move  in 
Parliament  that  Auckland  should  for  a  time  be 
erected  into  a  Crown  Colony.  The  motion,  however, 
was  defeated,  and  on  October  3,  1864,  Wellington 
was  made  the  capital  of  the  Colony,  and  the  session 
of  1865  was  held  there. 

The  financial  troubles  were  chiefly  connected  with 
the  war  expenditure.  The  Imperial  Government 

B 


258  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

had  made  large  advances  for  commissariat  and  capi- 
tation money  for  the  troops,  and  was  now  pressing 
for  the  settlement  of  these  claims.  Moreover,  pro- 
vision had  to  be  made  to  replace  the  Imperial  troops 
by  local  forces.  In  these  circumstances  there  was 
no  alternative  but  to  increase  taxation  and  limit  the 
expenditure  of  the  Provincial  Councils,  who,  what- 
ever the  necessities  of  the  case  might  be,  were  always 
inclined  to  resent  the  interference  of  the  Central 
Government. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  regular  troops  was  made 
slowly.  General  Cameron,  however,  resigned  in 
January,  1866,  and  was  succeeded  by  General  Chute. 
who,  if  less  experienced  in  European  warfare,  had 
more  dash  and  energy,  qualities  that  were  essential 
in  dealing  with  the  Maori  rebels.  Setting  out  from 
the  captured  Wereroa  pa,  he  marched  through  the 
bush  to  N"ew  Plymouth,  capturing  Otapawa  and 
other  strongholds  on  the  way.  Instead  of  following 
the  usual  route  on  the  sea  side  of  Mount  Egmont, 
he  worked  inland  through  a  little  known  and  ex- 
tremely difficult  country,  where  flooded  streams, 
dense  forests,  and  soaking  rains  combined  to  impede 
his  progress.  This  march  and  the  energetic  way  of 
seeking  out  the  rebels  brought  a  temporary  peace  to 
Taranaki,  the  scene  for  years  of  bloody  feuds  and 
combats. 

The  Hau-Hau  superstition  still  flourished,  acts 
of  brutal  ferocity  marking  every  stage  in  its  prog- 
ress. In  March,  1865,  a  Lutheran  missionary 
named  Volckner,  who  had  laboured  for  years  among 
the  natives  at  Opotiki,  in  the  Bay  of  Plenty,  and  had 
made  many  converts,  was  seized  and  hung  by  a  party 
of  fanatics.  When  the  body  was  cut  down,  a  brute 
named  Kereopa  tore  out  the  eyes  and  swallowed 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  259 

them ;  after  which  men,  and  even  women,  scrambled 
for  the  blood  of  the  victim,  some  drinking  it  with 
savage  glee  and  others  smearing  their  faces  with  it. 
A  colonial  contingent  under  Captain  Massey  and  a 
body  of  friendly  natives  led  by  the  energetic  Major 
McDonnell  were  immediately  despatched  to  Opotiki 
to  avenge  this  atrocity,  and  succeeded  in  inflicting 
severe  punishment  on  the  rebels.  The  militia  con- 
ducted themselves  with  great  gallantry  and  their 
leaders  showed  considerable  skill  in  bush  warfare. 
The  rebellion,  quenched  at  Opotiki,  then  spread  down 
the  East  coast  and  only  died  down  again  after  months 
of  guerilla  fighting,  in  which  our  native  allies  and 
especially  the  Ngatiporou  under  the  fierce  old  war- 
rior Ropata  Wahawaha  played  a  very  important 
part.  A  multitude  of  skirmishes  were  fought,  with 
varying  fortune.  The  most  decisive  engagement 
was  the  capture  of  Omaranui  (October,  1866)  pa  by 
Colonel  Whitmore,  all  the  natives  there  being  cap- 
tured or  killed. 

Again  there  was  a  lull,  lasting  from  October,  1866 
to  June,  1868.  The  year  1867  is  chiefly  memorable 
for  the  recall  of  Sir  George  Grey.  The  Home  Gov- 
ernment afterwards  apologised  somewhat  for  this 
"  premature  recall,"  but  it  was  evident  that  Grey 
was  sacrificed  to  appease  narrow-minded  officials  to 
whom  Governors  with  strong  characteristics  have 
never  been  pleasing.  The  Colonists  had  modified 
their  opinion  of  Grey,  and  expressed  freely  their 
high  appreciation  of  his  services  to  the  Colony. 
"Again  and  again,"  wrote  the  Executive  Council, 
"  during  the  last  twenty-six  years,  when  there  has 
been  danger  and  difficulty  in  the  administration  of 
Colonial  affairs,  your  Excellency's  aid  has  been  in- 
voked by  the  most  eminent  statesmen  of  the  day. 


260  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Sacrifices  you  have  disregarded,  and  trials  have 
seemed  as  opportunities  of  evincing  devotion  to 
public  duty,  and  we  cannot  but  regard  it  as  indica- 
tive of  the  indifference,  if  not  positive  disfavour, 
with  which  the  colonies  of  the  Empire  are  regarded 
when  loyalty,  zeal,  and  high  intelligence  displayed 
in  the  administration  of  their  affairs,  are  passed  by 
without  even  the  courtesy  of  a  cold  acknowledg- 
ment." Happily  the  days  of  blundering  indiffer- 
ence are  departed,  and  instead  of  being  regarded 
with  disfavour  Colonies  are  now  esteemed  the  main- 
stay of  the  Empire.  Grey's  successor  was  Sir 
George  Bowen,  who  arrived  in  February,  1868. 

In  June,  1868,  the  war  re-opened,  Taranaki  being 
the  first  scene  of  disturbance.  Hau-Hau  marauders 
began  to  "  lift "  cattle  and  horses,  and  to  shoot  un- 
protected settlers.  Their  ringleader  was  a  chief 
named  Titokowaru,  whose  stronghold  was  Ngutu-o- 
te-nTmu  (Beak  of  the  Bird).  Colonel  McDonnell 
captured  the  place  in  August,  but  in  September 
his  raw  levies  were  repulsed  in  an  attack  upon  Rua- 
rua  with  a  loss  of  50  killed  and  wounded.  McDon- 
nell then  gave  up  his  command  to  Colonel  Whit- 
more,  who  had  been  distinguishing  himself  on  the 
East  coast.  The  Taranaki  forces  were  at  this  time 
thoroughly  demoralised:  most  of  them  were  undis- 
ciplined recruits,  and  some  of  them  had  to  be  dis- 
banded for  mutiny.  Whitmore  had  thus  to  mark 
time  until  by  recruiting  and  drilling  he  could  muster 
up  a  force  of  capable  fighting  men.  At  length  he 
took  the  field,  attacking  six  or  seven  hundred  Maoris 
entrenched  at  Moturoa,  a  pa  surrounded  by  dense 
bush.  He  was,  however,  no  more  successful  than 
McDonnell  had  been.  After  an  obstinate  fight,  in 
which  twenty-one  of  our  men  were  killed,  he  was 


THE  HAU-HAUS.  261 

compelled  to  retreat,  and  before  he  could  strike  an- 
other blow  he  was  hastily  summoned  to  the  East 
coast  to  deal  with  the  perpetrators  of  the  Poverty 
Bay  Massacre. 

After  the  last  campaign  in  that  district,  the  Gov- 
ernment had  sent  a  large  number  of  Maori  prisoners 
to  the  Chatham  Islands,  from  which,  it  was  sup- 
posed, it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  escape. 
The  guard,  however,  consisted  of  only  twenty-five 
men,  and  these  were  afterwards  reduced  to  fifteen. 
Among  the  prisoners  was  a  man  named  Te  Kooti,who, 
although  he  had  never  borne  arms  againStTufy  was 
regarded  as  a  Hau-Hau  accomplice.  Partly  through 
his  real  cleverness,  and  partly  through  his  preten- 
sions to  having  received  revelations  from  Heaven, 
he  obtained  complete  ascendancy  over  his  fellow 
captives  and  soon  matured  a  daring  plan  of  escape. 
On  the  3rd  of  July  the  schooner  Rifleman  arrived 
with  stores,  and  on  the  following  day  the  prisoners 
overpowered  the  guard,  and  seized  the  vessel.  The 
Captain  was  put  ashore,  but  the  mate  and  the  crew 
were  given  their  choice  between  death  and  navigating 
the  ship  to  the  coast  of  New  Zealand.  Needless  to 
say,  they  chose  the  latter.  During  the  voyage  a 
Maori,  with  drawn  cutlass,  stood  by  the  man  at  the 
wheel ;  and  when  head  winds  retarded  their  progress, 
Te  Kooti  ordered  his  uncle  to  be  thrown  overboard 
to  appease  the  god  of  storms.  A  sacrifice  which 
had  the  desired  effect ;  for  the  wind  immediately  be- 
gan to  blow  from  another  quarter.  On  the  10th  they 
arrived  at  Whareongaonga,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Poverty  Bay.  On  landing,  they  supplied  the  sailors 
with  some  casks  of  water,  and  then  told  them  to 
go  about  their  business.  Thereupon  the  escapees, 
164  men  and  135  women  and  children,  struck  out 


262  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

for  the  interior,  pursued  by  Major  Biggs,  with  a 
hastily  collected  force  of  Europeans  and  friendly 
natives.  The  fugitives,  however,  turning  to  bay, 
repulsed  Major  Biggs  and  made  good  their  escape. 
Other  attempts  made  to  catch  them  were  equally 
unsuccessful.  After  an  interval  spent  in  sending 
emissaries  to  disaffected  tribes  and  inciting  his  fol- 
lowers by  fanatical  addresses  to  take  vengeance  upon 
the  Pdkehas,  Te  Kooti  suddenly  swooped  down ., 
(Nov.  9,  1868)  upon  the  Poverty  Bay  settlement 
and  massacred  thirty-three  white  people  and  thirty- 
seven  natives.  Some  of  the  Europeans  owed  their 
escape  to  a  staunch  old  chief  named  Tutari,  who 
refused  to  point  out  the  route  the  fugitive  settlers 
had  taken.  He  and  his  two  children  were  imme- 
diately tomahawked.  His  wife,  equally  loyal  but 
more  prudent  than  her  husband,  saved  the_.settlers 
and  her  own  life  by  pointing  out  the  wrongjoa^L/?  It 
was  a  night  of  horrors.  Surrounding  CaptarrT  Wil- 
son's house,  the  savages  called  upon  him  to  open  the 
door,  and  when  he  refused,  burst  it  open  with  a  log 
of  wood.  Afraid  to  enter,  they  then  set  fire  to  the 
house,  and  the  Captain,  with  his  wife  and  children, 
their  hair  and  feet  singed  by  the  fire,  was  obliged 
to  leave  it.  He  had  gone  but  a  few  hundred  yards 
when  he  was  bayoneted,  and  fell  with  his  little  son 
in  his  arms.  The  latter  stole  away  in  the  dark  and 
hid  in  some  scrub.  Some  days  afterwards  he  re- 
turned to  his  old  home  and  found  his  "  father  and 
brothers,  and  sisters  all  dead,"  and  his  mother  lying 
mortally  wounded  in  an  outhouse. 

Te  Kooti,  after  repulsing  a  levy  of  friendly  na- 
tives and  being  in  turn  defeated  by  Ropata,  fortified 
himself  at  Ngatapa,  an  almost  inaccessible  pa, 
perched  on  the  top  of  a  wooded  hill  and  protected  by 


THE  HAU-HAUS. 

three  lines  of  earthworks  and  by  the  usual  rifle-pits. 
Ropata's  men  looked  at  this  fastness,  and  turned 
away,  much  to  the  indignation  of  the  old  chief  who 
gloried  in  dangers  and  difficulties.  At  length  Col- 
onel Whitmore  arrived,  and  combining  Ropata's 
forces  with  his  own,  invested  the  pa,  and  seized  the 
first  line  of  entrenchments.  As  usual  the  rebels 
were  badly  supplied  with  water  and  food;  the  pa 
had,  therefore,  become  a  death-trap  and  their  only 
chance  was  to  escape  from  it  as  best  they  could. 
This  they  contrived  to  do  by  lowering  themselves 
by  ropes  over  a  cliff  which  had  been  left  unguarded ; 
but  the  fugitives  were  pounced  upon  by  Ropata,  who 
slaughtered  or  captured  them  by  scores.  In  this  en- 
gagement, the  last  of  any  consequence  in  New  Zea- 
land, 136  rebels  were  slain.  The  captured  were 
summarily  shot,  and  their  bodies  flung  over  a  cliff. 
Te  Kooti  took  refuge  in  the  Urewera  country  and 
was  able  to  commit  several  other  atrocities  before 
he  was  driven  into  the  interior.  Thenceforth  he 
was  a  fugitive,  never  caught,  but  harried  from  one 
place  to  another  by  Ropata,  Kemp,  and  McDonnell, 
until  the  spirit  went  out  of  him.  Finally  he  threw 
himself  upon  the  protection  of  the  Maori  king,  who 
sheltered  him  on  condition  of  good  behaviour,  and 
the  Government  wisely  let  him  alone.  The  same 
policy  was  pursued  in  regard  to  Titokowaru  who, 
chased  by  Whitmore  from  the  Wanganui  district, 
fled  to  the  interior,  a  solitary  and  harmless  wanderer. 
Thus  ended  the  ten  years'  war  and  the  Maori 
dream  of  independence.  They  had  boldly  thrown 
down  the  gauntlet  to  the  Pakehas,  and  although  our 
vastly  superior  forces  were  bound  to  tell  in  the  long 
run,  they  beat  our  troops  time  after  time  and  vindi- 
cated their  character  as  brave  men  and  resourceful 


264:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

fighters.  The  second  phase  of  the  war  showed  them 
in  a  less  amiable  light.  They  felt  that  the  cause  for 
which  they  had  taken  up  arms  was  lost;  and  despair 
and  a  debasing  superstition  combined  to  egg  them 
on  to  deeds  of  almost  fiendish  cruelty.  The  Hau- 
Haus  were,  indeed,  devils  incarnate,  and  whilst  their 
flaming  star  was  in  the  ascendant,  the  hearts  of  the 
colonists  were  bitter  against  the  Maoris:  yet  partly 
because  we  had  seen  loyal  natives  fighting  side  by 
side  with  us,  worthy  comrades  in  arms,  and  partly 
because  both  soldiers  and  settlers  had  begun  to  ap- 
preciate the  many  excellent  qualities  of  the  Maoris, 
the  savagery  that  marked  the  last  stage  of  the 
struggle  was  soon  forgotten,  and  the  two  races  have 
since  lived  together  in  almost  perfect  harmony. 
The  confiscation  policy,  which  led  us  to  take  over 
millions  of  acres  from  the  insurgents,  was  not 
pressed  with  vengeful  severity;  a  great  deal  of  the 
land  thus  confiscated  was  given  back  and  every  effort 
was  made  to  conciliate  and  aid  them  to  regain  their 
self-respect.  To  Sir  Donald  McLean,  who  was  na- 
tive minister  from  1869  to  1S76,  the  Colony  is 
chiefly  indebted  for  the  success  of  these  efforts. 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     265 


CHAPTEK  XXI. 

PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT. 

(1860-1870.) 

THE  war  greatly  retarded  the  progress  of  the 
North  Island;  settlers  suffered  grievously,  and  the 
general  alarm  and  insecurity  prevented  the  influx 
of  immigrants.  Even  after  the  confiscation  policy 
had  rendered  large  blocks  of  land  available,  there 
was  littlo  eagerness  to  purchase ;  for  to  settle  in  out- 
lying districts  was  to  court  spoliation  and  death  at 
the  hands  of  the  Hau-Haus.  Still,  there  were  many 
who  took  all  the  risks ;  and  some  of  the  old  pioneers, 
owing  to  their  knowledge  of  the  Maori  character, 
contrived  to  escape  the  heavy  hand  of  the  black- 
mailer. Private  enterprise  did  much.  It  was  the 
sheep-farmer,  for  example,  who,  without  help  from 
Company  or  Government,  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  Province  of  Hawke's  Bay.  It  is  a  great  pity 
that  materials  for  a  history  of  individual  effort  in 
the  Colonies  are  so  hard  to  come  by;  for  few  of 
the  men  who  cleared  the  bush,  snagged  the  rivers, 
and  made  roads  by  the  labour  of  their  own  hands, 
have  published,  or,  indeed,  left  any  record  of  their 
doings.  Nevertheless,  the  story  of  farmers,  squat- 
ters, sheep  and  cattle  drovers,  and  gold-diggers  is 
more  interesting  and  just  as  important  as  the  history 
of  public  affairs,  which,  at  best,  gives  but  a  narrow 
and  distorted  view  of  the  struggles  and  achievements 
of  the  people  themselves. 


266  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

The  war  was  not  an  unmixed  evil  to  the  people  of 
the  North  Island.  It  gave  a  new  dignity  and  self- 
reliance  to  the  colonists,  and  made  them  acquainted 
with  every  portion  of  the  island,  so  that  when  peace 
came,  they  were  in  a  better  position  for  exploiting 
its  riches. 

Taking  the  Colony  as  a  whole,  progress  had  been 
very  rapid.  The  population  had  increased  from 
79,711  in  1860,  to  248,400  in  1870;  the  total  exports 
had  risen  from  £549,133  to  £4,544,682;  and  the 
imports  from  £1,548,333  to  £4,639,015.  Of  the 
exports,  gold  and  wool  came  easily  first  in  impor- 
tance; but  agriculture,  kauri-gum  digging,  and  the 
flax  industry  were  also  making  progress.  By  1870 
there  were  in  New  Zealand  nearly  nine  million 
sheep,  between  three  and  four  hundred  thousand 
head  of  horned  cattle,  and  seventy  thousand  horses. 
Over  a  million  acres  of  land  were  in  cultivation. 
One  result  of  this  development  had  been  the  estab- 
lishment of  new  provinces — Hawke's  Bay,  Marl- 
borough,  Westland,  and  Southland.  The  difficulty 
of  communication  between  the  various  centres  of 
population  contributed  to  the  same  end.  The  first 
railway — that  between  Christchurch  and  Ferrymead 
Junction — was  made  in  1863,  but  trunk  lines  were 
still  in  the  "  womb  of  the  future."  Steamers  had 
made  their  appearance  earlier,  but  the  coastal  serv- 
ice was  far  from  perfect.  Roads,  except  in  and 
around  the  towns,  were  simply  tracks  made  by  the 
bullock  drays  of  the  squatters.  As  a  consequence 
of  the  comparative  isolation  of  the  settlements, 
Provincialism  was  rampant.  The  southern  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly  grumbled  at  their  lia- 
bility to  share  the  expenditure  necessitated  by 
native  wars  in  the  North  Island,  and  some  of  them 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     267 

went  so  far  as  to  demand  separation.  But  the  days 
of  Provincial  Councils  were,  although  they  knew  it 
not,  already  numbered.  By  1870  they  had  passed 
their  grand  climacteric,  and  in  a  few  years  they  gave 
up  the  ghost,  unwillingly  it  must  be  confessed,  and 
with  no  small  outcry.  What  they  achieved,  and  they 
had  much  good  work  to  their  credit,  need  not  be 
discussed  apart  from  general  progress,  which  they 
too  complacently  attributed  to  their  own  legislative 
wisdom.  They  laboured  under  the  mistake — par- 
donable in  the  early  days  of  slow-sailing  craft  which 
took  weeks  to  get  from  one  settlement  to  another — 
that>  a  strong  central  government  is  incompatible 
with  good  local  government;  so  with  all  their  might 
they  nourished  jealousies,  petty  ambitions  and  local 
prejudices,  giving  free  rein  to  that  self-centering 
process  which  makes  it  so  difficult,  except  in  the 
face  of  immediate  danger,  for  Anglo-Saxon  com- 
munities to  sacrifice  the  smaller  good  for  the  greater. 
They  and  their  ambitions,  however,  are  now  as  dead 
as  Julius  Caesar,  and  serve  only  to  point  a  moral 
and  adorn  a  tale — for  the  benefit  of  disintegrators  of 
Empire. 

In  New  Zealand,  as  in  Australia,  gold  was  the 
great  magnet  to  draw  population,  and  population 
is  the  prime  need  of  a  young  country.  As  early  as 
1852,  when  all  eyes  were  turned  to  Australia,  gold 
had  been  discovered  in  the  bed  of  a  stream  falling 
into  Coromandel  Harbour.  A  rush  immediately 
took  place,  but  although  Te  Taniwha  gave  permis- 
sion to  dig  over  his  land,  Taraia  and  other  chiefs 
to  whom  most  of  the  gold-bearing  land  belonged, 
stood  in  the  way  of  extensive  prospecting.  The 
rush  was,  therefore,  a  failure.  Only  £1100  worth 
of  gold  was  obtained  and  at  a  cost  of  £2000,  but 


268  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

great  quantities  of  it  were  yet  to  be  extracted  from 
the  district.  A  few  years  later,  gold  was  discovered 
at  Collingwood,  in  Nelson,  and  in  1858  the  output 
was  valued  at  £92,104.  There  was  nothing  phe- 
nomenal in  either  of  these  fields,  however,  and  no 
great  streams  of  population  flowed  towards  them. 

Although  many  rumors  of  gold  were  beginning  to 
come  from  Otago,  the  sober  Scotch  community  of 
that  Province  remained  for  a  time  impassive,  fear- 
ing, it  was  thought,  the  evil  consequences  that  might 
follow  an  inrush  of  wild  rovers  and  adventurers. 
Presently,  however,  even  their  cold  blood  caught 
the  infection,  and  the  Provincial  Council  offered  a 
reward  of  £500  for  the  discovery  of  a  payable  gold- 
field.  In  1858,  an  Asiatic  named  Black  Pete  struck 
the  precious  metal  at  Lindis  Pass,  but  the  supply 
was  soon  exhausted.  Three  years  later  Gabriel 
Read  found  alluvial  gold  at  Tuapeka,  getting,  it  is 
said,  £25  worth  in  ten  hours  with  no  better  imple- 
ment than  a  butcher's  knife.  He  immediately  in- 
formed the  Superintendent  of  the  Province,  Major 
Richardson,  and  the  fame  of  Gabriel  Gully  soon 
drew  crowds  of  diggers  from  all  the  Colonies. 

Tokomairiro,  the  nearest  township,  was  promptly 
deserted,  the  Sunday  services  there  being  attended 
only  by  the  minister  and  the  precentor.  Although 
it  was  the  middle  of  winter  and  snow  was  falling, 
half  Dunedin  marched  off  to  the  diggings,  and  so 
many  thousands  poured  in  from  Australia  and  else- 
where that  the  population  was  doubled  in  a  few 
months.  The  diggers'  life  at  Tuapeka  was  far  from 
being  a  picnic.  The  climate  was  severe,  the  hills 
were  bleak,  and  the  roads  were  bad.  Cartage  cost 
as  much  as  £150  a  ton,  and  so  little  timber  was  found 
in  the  neighbourhood  that  £5  was  given  for  a  gia 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     269 

case  wherewith  to  make  a  miner's  "  cradle."  Flour 
went  up  to  £30  a  ton,  and  other  necessaries  were 
equally  dear.  Many,  of  course,  were  disappointed, 
and  either  drifted  into  other  pursuits  or  left  the 
Colony;  but  thousands  made  a  comfortable  living 
and  a  few  made  fortunes.  In  1863  the  output  from 
the  Otago  gold  fields  rose  to  two  millions  sterling. 
The  effect  upon  the  progress  of  the  Province  was 
magical.  The  revenue  went  at  a  bound  from 
£97,000  to  £470,000,  and  after  the  first  excitement 
had  cooled  down,  other  industries  began  to  flourish 
apace.  With  the  exception  of  petty  thefts  and  oc- 
casional brawls,  the  Otago  diggers  gave  little  trouble 
to  the  authorities,  who,  indeed,  made  excellent  ar- 
rangements for  the  maintenance  of  order. 

Close  on  the  heels  of  the  Otago  "  rush,"  came 
another  to  the  west  coast  of  Canterbury.  Westland, 
as  it  is  now  called,  is  but  a  fringe  of  harbourless 
coast  at  the  base  of  the  Alps,  the  spurs  and  valleys  of 
which  are  covered  with  dense  jungles.  It  is  a 
windy,  rainy  region,  where  the  surveyor  and  pros- 
pector had  many  hardships  to  encounter  in  the  shape 
of  precipitous  ravines,  ice-cold  mountain  torrents, 
damp,  dismal  forests,  and  a  general  scarcity  of  pro- 
visions. Gold  was  known  to  exist  there  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  decade,  but  it  was  not  until  1865  that 
tne  rush  set  in.  Within  a  few  months  the  solitudes 
of  the  west  were  occupied  by  upwards  of  30,000  men. 
Some  walked  over  the  mountain  passes  from  the 
Canterbury  Plains,  but  the  greater  number  came  by 
sea  in  small  coasting  vessels,  which  had  difficulty  in 
avoiding  shipwreck  on  the  shoals  and  bars  which 
line  the  coast.  Hokitika  became  in  a  few  months 
one  of  the  most  populous  cities  in  the  Colony.  The 
difficulty  of  transport  sent  prices  up  to  an  almost 


270  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

incredible  extent;  flour,  for  example,  being  sold  at 
£150  per  ton.  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  drawbacks,  the 
field  was  so  rich  that  many  were  able  to  make  from 
£8  to  £10  a  week,  and  for  1866  the  export  of  gold 
amounted  to  £2,140,000.  Except  that  the  sur- 
rounding scenery  was  different,  the  life  of  the  dig- 
gers on  the  West  Coast  did  not  differ  much  from 
that  which  prevailed  on  Australian  and  Californian 
gold-fields.  There  were  the  same  motley  crowds,  the 
same  collection  of  grog-shanties  and  stores,  the  same 
wild  human  picturesqueness.  A  few  riots  occurred, 
and  four  desperadoes  for  a  time  imitated  the  bush- 
rangers of  Australia ;  but  with  these  exceptions,  ruf- 
fianism was  conspicuously  rare. 

In  Otago  and  Westland  the  gold  was  chiefly  al- 
luvial; in  the  Coromandel  and  Thames  districts  it 
occurred  principally  in  quartz  and  was,  therefore, 
more  difficult  to  get  at.  The  Maori  land-owners 
Btill  retarded  the  operations  of  the  miners,  but  not- 
withstanding their  opposition  considerable  quantities 
of  gold  were  obtained. 

Between  1860  and  1870,  gold  to  the  value  of  22 
million  pounds  sterling  was  exported  from  New  Zea- 
land. It  would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  in- 
fluence of  this  sudden  wealth  upon  the  progress  of 
the  country.  People  now  flocked  to  New  Zealand, 
undeterred  by  Maori  atrocities,  and  the  great  ma- 
jority remained  after  the  gold  mania  had  abated,  and 
applied  themselves  to  the  development  of  other  in- 
dustries. Another  valuable  result  was  the  thorough 
exploration  of  the  Middle  Island.  The  squatter  and 
the  digger,  aided  by  the  surveyor,  spied  out  the  land 
and  paved  the  way  for  closer  settlement.  Their 
adventures,  especially  those  of  the  surveyors,  in  the 
mountainous  regions  of  Canterbury  and  Otago,  have 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     271 

yet  to  be  written,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  materials 
exist  for  a  story  almost  as  thrilling  as  that  of  the 
explorers  of  Australia.  Some  of  them  were  lost  for 
weeks  and  months  at  a  time,  entangled  in  bush  and 
shut  in  by  precipitous  gorges,  where  they  suffered 
all  the  privations  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  mountaineers 
— hunger  and  exposure  to  intense  cold  and  inclement 
weather. 

Whilst  the  principal  industries  of  this  decade  were 
sheep  and  cattle  breeding,  agriculture,  and  gold- 
mining,  a  considerable  number  of  people  found  oc- 
cupation in  gum-digging,  in  dressing  the  native  flax, 
and  in  the  timber  trade.  Kauri-gum  or  resin  is 
simply  the  "  solidified  turpentine  of  the  Kauri." 
In  a  fossil  condition  it  is  abundant  in  the  Northern 
part  of  the  Province  of  Auckland,  where  it  is  found 
in  dry  fernhills  or  swamps.  Large  quantities  are 
also  obtained  from  the  forks  of  trees.  Lumps  of 
fossil  resin  have  been  found  which  weigh  as  much 
as  100  Ibs.,  but  in  general  the  lumps  vary  in  size 
from  a  "  walnut  to  a  man's  head."  It  varies  much 
in  quality  and  appearance,  the  best  specimen  being 
of  a  rich  brown  colour,  and  the  worst  being  almost 
black.  It  is  exported  to  England  and  America  and 
is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  mouthpieces  of  pipes, 
cigar  holders,  etc.,  and  especially  in  the  manufacture 
of  oil  varnishes.  In  1860,  when  the  total  output 
was  1046  tons,  the  price  obtained  was  £9  per  ton ;  at 
the  end  of  the  century  it  was  worth  about  £60  a  ton. 

A  commission  which  reported  in  1898  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  Kauri-gum  industry  estimated  the  area 
of  gum-bearing  land  at  814,000  acres.  Land  that 
tad  been  roughly  skimmed  by  the  early  diggers  was 
found  on  further  investigation  to  contain  "  two, 
three  and  sometimes  four  layers  of  gum,  betokening 


272  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  existence  of  two  or  three  Kauri  forests,  which, 
on  disappearing,  or,  as  is  probable,  on  being 
destroyed  by  fire  in  ages  past,  left  in  succession  their 
quota  or  layer  of  gum  in  the  ground.  On  this  ac- 
count it  has  frequently  happened  that  fields  which 
years  ago  have  been  pronounced  worked  out  have 
been  taken  up  again  and  profitably  reworked,  and 
this  same  process  is  going  on  at  present."  * 

In  the  decade  discussed  in  this  chapter,  the  gum- 
digger  worked  on  his  own  account,  without  any  par- 
ticular system  or  combination,  and,  in  general,  made 
but  a  scanty  living.  It  was,  however,  an  easy  mode 
of  existence,  requiring  no  capital  and  no  tools  except 
a  spear,  a  pick  and  a  shovel.  A  small  fee  was  usu- 
ally charged  for  digging  on  Crown  lands,  but  the 
diggers  roamed  pretty  well  at  will,  rooting  up  the 
ground  in  all  directions,  and  clearing  the  scrub 
away  by  the  reckless  method  of  putting  a  match  to 
it.  Most  of  them  were  pure  nomads,  with  no  bet- 
ter habitation  than  a  tent  or  a  roughly  built  slab 
whare;  and  although  a  few  industrious  and  saving 
individuals  accumulated  in  time  something  like  a 
fortune,  the  great  majority  spent  their  earnings  at 
the  grog-shops  which  were  always  temptingly  near 
at  hand.  The  land  over  which  these  people  worked 
was  left  a  desolation,  bare  of  vegetation  and  trenched 
in  a  most  unsightly  manner.  After  the  burning  of 
the  vegetation,  the  thin  layer  of  soil  was  blown  away 
and  nothing  remained  but  pipe-clay;  and  for  years 
no  effort  was  made  either  to  check  the  wanton  de- 
struction of  scrub  or  to  reclothe  the  waste  gum-lands 
with  grass  or  trees.  Recently,  however,  it  has  been 
found  that  the  pipe-clay  is  not  unsuitable  for  the 

*  New  Zealand  Official  Year  Book  (1899). 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     273 

growth  of  fruit  trees,  gorse,  and  certain  hardy 
grasses,  and  no  doubt  in  time  the  hideous  trail  of  the 
gum-digger  will  be  covered  up  and  the  land  made 
useful.  The  industry  of  gum-digging  still  continues 
to  flourish,  and  many  years  must  elapse  before  the 
known  fields  are  exhausted.  In  1870  the  output  was 
valued  at  £175,074;  and  in  1898,  it  was  £586,767. 

New  Zealand  flax  (phormium  tenax)  is  a  gigantic 
lily,  with  long  sword-shaped  leaves,  growing  usually 
in  swamps,  and  at  one  time  very  abundant.  The 
Maoris  used  it  for  a  variety  of  textile  purposes, 
obtaining  the  fibre  by  scraping  the  leaves  with  shells, 
work  which  was  usually  performed  by  women.  The 
value  of  the  fibre  was  soon  perceived  by  the  colonists, 
and  the  Maori  hand  process  was  replaced  by  mechan- 
ical treatment.  Mills  were  established  for  "  scutch- 
ing "  and  "  hackling  "  the  flax ;  that  is,  for  getting 
rid  of  the  green  covering  and  of  the  gum  with  which 
the  fibre  is  mixed.  Six  tons  of  green  flax  were  re- 
quired to  produce  one  ton  of  fibre.  The  value 
of  the  dressed  flax  has  varied  from  £17  a  ton  to  £40 
a  ton,  and  the  industrv  itself  has  fluctuated  with  the 
price.  In  1860  the  value  of  the  fibre  exported  was 
only  £43  ;  in  1870  it  was  £132,578  ;  then  it  fell  away 
and  rose  again  to  £381,789  in  1890.  Of  late  years 
it  has  diminished  rapidly,  and  unless  flax-cultiva- 
tion is  vigorously  pursued,  the  industry  will  cease 
to  be  of  any  importance. 

The  timber  trade  was  confined  chiefly  to  the  north 
of  Auckland,  where  Kauri  forests  abounded.  It  is 
one  of  the  oldest  of  New  Zealand  industries,  and 
the  timber-getters  in  the  Kauri  district  are  the 
earliest  settlers  or  their  descendants.  In  the  Kauri 
region,  the  logs  were  usually  conveyed  to  the  mills 
by  flotation.  When  the  tree  was  felled,  the  sawyers 

S 


274:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

cut  it  into  convenient  lengths  and  rolled  the  logs 
down  a  track  to  the  nearest  creek,  where  in  most 
cases  they  had  to  remain,  until  a  heavy  rain  brought 
sufficient  water  to  float  them  down  to  the  "  booms." 
Sometimes  the  booms  were  unable  to  stand  the  im- 
mense pressure  of  accumulated  logs,  and  the  whole 
"  drive,"  the  harvest  of  a  season,  was  carried  out 
to  sea  and  lost. 

With  1860  New  Zealand  entered  upon  a  period  of 
rapid  expansion  in  population,  commerce,  and  in- 
dustry. During  the  decade  the  face  of  the  country 
underwent  a  great  transformation ;  for,  except  in  in- 
accessible or  remote  districts,  or  in  regions  where  the 
Maori  disturbances  still  continued,  the  settler  and 
his  works  were  now  plainly  apparent.  The  popula- 
tion was,  of  course,  still  sparse,  especially  in  the  pas- 
toral districts  where  a  few  shepherds  were  perhaps 
the  only  human  occupants  of  territory  measuring 
hundreds  of  square  miles.  Nevertheless,  the  Colo- 
nists had  removed  much  of  the  natural  wildness  of 
the  country  and  had  impressed  upon  it  character- 
istics reminiscent  of  other  lands  and  climates.  In 
the  far  north  might  be  seen  vineyards  and  groves  of 
oranges,  lemons,  and  olives,  for  the  climate  was  like 
that  of  the  South  of  Europe.  In  Taranaki,  Wel- 
lington, and  Hawke's  Bay,  squatters  and  farmers 
were  more  in  evidence.  The  farmers  in  "  bush " 
country  had  no  easy  task  before  them,  for  the  forest 
was  in  general  so  thick  that  it  was  impossible  to  get 
through  it  without  cutting  a  way  with  the  axe. 
When  a  bush  farm  was  selected  the  trees  had  to  be 
cut  down — a  wearisome  process — and  then  the 
tangled  heaps  of  timber  had  to  be  burned,  and, 
finally,  before  the  ground  could  be  cultivated  to  any 
extent,  the  stumps  had  to  be  extracted  or  burned  out, 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     £75 

All  this  required  time,  immense  labour,  and  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  capital.  The  latter,  however,  was 
eked  out  by  cutting  down  the  family  expenditure 
to  the  lowest  limit ;  and  as  the  forest  land  was  nearly 
always  rich,  the  farmer  who  had  grit  and  persever- 
ance found  himself  in  a  few  years  possessed  of  a 
really  valuable  estate.  Men  of  this  class,  though 
owning  plenty  of  pigs,  cows  and  horses,  were  often 
hard  put  to  it  to  find  coin  to  pay  local  rates.  Their 
wealth  was  entirely  in  kind.  Mr.  Edward  Wake- 
field  gives  an  interesting  example  of  their  impecu- 
niosity :  "  Some  little  time  ago  a  deputation  came  to 
Wellington  to  try  to  interest  the  merchants  of  Wel- 
lington in  some  organisation  for  the  disposal  of 
their  produce.  They  were  fine,  big,  sun-burned, 
good-natured,  open-hearted  fellows,  and  it  seemed 
ludicrous  to  hear  their  complaints  of  their  distressed 
condition.  One  of  those  to  whom  they  applied  for 
help  in  their  proposed  venture,  remarked  that  he 
did  not  think  they  looked  very  miserable,  for  he 
had  never  seen  a  healthier  or  jollier  set  of  men. 
'  Oh,'  said  one  who  was  the  spokesman  of  the  party, 
( there's  no  lack  of  food  up  our  way.  We  have 
enough  of  that  to  stand  a  siege.  But  I  don't  believe 
we  could  raise  thirty  shillings  in  ready  money  in  tho 
whole  settlement,  and  that's  the  trouble.' '  Their 
life  was  arduous  enough,  yet  for  the  most  they  were 
comfortable  and  happy;  their  homes  were  unpreten- 
tious huts  of  slab,  or  weatherboard  or  sod,  but 
orchards  and  vegetable  gardens  took  away  the  sordid 
air  of  wretchedness  which  hangs  so  oppressively 
about  the  "  humpies  "  of  back-block  selectors  in  Aus- 
tralia. Their  children  "  nine  or  ten,"  though  clad 
in  homely  fashion  and  often  innocent  of  boots,  were 
hardy  and  robust. 


276  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

The  transformation  of  the  Middle  Island  was 
much  more  complete.  Thirty  years  ago  it  had  been 
empty,  now  its  waste  spaces  echoed  to  the  stockman's 
whip,  the  barking  of  the  nimble  collie,  or  the  multi- 
tudinous sounds  that  issue  from  gold-mining  camps. 
Nelson  was  even  now  a  "  Sleepy  Hollow,"  encircled 
by  trees  and  gardens  and  the  farms  of  small  culti- 
vators. On  the  Avon  the  Pilgrims  had  created  a 
pleasant  city  which,  notwithstanding  that  nearly  all 
the  houses  were  of  wood,  was  not  unlike  a  bit  of  the 
Home  land  to  which  their  thoughts  continually  re- 
verted. The  richest  land  bordering  upon  the  rivers 
already  bore  crops  of  wheat  and  oats,  or  fattened 
large  herds  of  cattle  on  English  grass  and  clover; 
the  outlying  tussocky  plain  was  given  up  to  the 
merino,  but  every  sheep-station  had  its  comfortable 
homestead,  gardens,  and  cultivated  fields.  Com- 
munication between  Christchurch  and  Port  Lyttle- 
ton  was  now  an  easy  matter ;  for,  thanks  to  the  fore- 
sight and  energy  of  Mr.  Moorehouse,  a  tunnel,  nearly 
a  mile  and  a  half  long,  now  pierced  the  hills  and 
enabled  trains  to  run  from  the  vessel's  side  to  the 
capital.  For  so  small  a  community  it  was  a  colossal 
work,  but  Moorehouse  had  large  ideas  and  faith  in 
the  future.  Otago,  with  its  gold  mines,  had  advanced 
even  more  rapidly.  The  inundation  of  diggers  bade 
fair  to  swamp  the  "  Old  Identities,"  but  Dunedin 
remained  just  as  Scotch  and  Presbyterian  as  Christ- 
church  was  English  and  Episcopalian.  The  indus- 
tries were  very  similar;  sheep  and  cattle  and  agri- 
culture occupied  those  who  had  resisted  the  gold 
fever. 

This  summary  may  be  closed  with  the  mention  of 
a  fact  that  makes  1870  a  landmark  in  New  Zealand 
history.  In  that  year  an  Act  was  passed  providing 


PROGRESS  UNDER  PROVINCIAL  GOVERNMENT.     277 

for  the  foundation  of  a  University.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  settlers  were  men  of  superior  educa- 
tion, who  from  the  outset  strove  to  win  for  their 
children  some  of  the  advantages  they  themselves  had 
enjoyed.  Good  schools  and  colleges  already  existed, 
and  the  system  was  now  to  be  completed  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  University. 


PART  II. 
EXPANSION  AND  EXPEEIMENT. 


CHAPTEK   XXII. 

THE   PUBLIC   WORKS   POLICY  AND   THE   ABOLITION   OF 
THE     PROVINCES. 

THE  decade  1870-1880  constituted  a  striking  and 
even  sensational  period  in  the  progress  of  New  Zea- 
land. Its  "  leading  features  "  were  the  initiation  of 
the  Public  Works  Policy,  and,  as  a  direct  consequence 
of  this,  the  abolition  of  the  Provinces.  When  it 
opened,  New  Zealand  was  a  federation  of  nine  small 
provincial  settlements ;  it  had  a  population  of  some- 
thing under  a  quarter  of  a  million  and  a  public  debt 
of  a  little  over  seven  millions;  and  it  possessed  few 
facilities  for  communication  or  transit:  there  were 
but  700  miles  of  telegraphs  and  46  miles  of  railways. 
When  it  closed,  New  Zealand  was  a  unified  Colony; 
the  provincial  legislatures  had  been  swept  away  and 
the  government  centralised  in  Wellington ;  the  popu- 
lation had  been  doubled,  the  public  debt  trebled; 
and  the  government  had  constructed,  out  of  bor- 
rowed money,  some  4000  miles  of  telegraphs  and 
1100  miles  of  railways;  with  roads  and  bridges  in- 
numerable in  most  of  the  settled,  and  many  of  the 
•unsettled,  parts  of  the  Colony.  The  immediate  re- 


THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY.  279 

suits  of  the  Public  Works  Policy  were  political  cor- 
ruption and  financial  disaster;  but  subsequent  his- 
tory has  proved  that,  if  premature  in  conception  and 
extravagant  in  administration,  it  has  been  produc- 
tive of  lasting  good  in  accelerating  the  development 
of  the  colony. 

The  policy  of  constructing  public  works  by  means 
of  money  borrowed  in  the  English  market  was  not 
of  course  new.  A  great  part  of  the  seven  millions 
already  borrowed  had  been  spent  in  this  way;  but 
it  had  been  raised  at  great  cost  on  the  credit  of  the 
provincial  legislatures  only ;  and  the  piecemeal  char- 
acter of  their  work  is  strikingly  exemplified  by  the 
fact  that  the  46  miles  of  railway  completed  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  country  had  been  constructed  on 
no  less  than  three  different  gauges.  Now,  however, 
the  central  government  came  forward  with  a  com- 
prehensive and  continuous  scheme  of  constructing 
public  works  and  aiding  immigration  by  means  of 
borrowed  money. 

The  statesman  who  conceived  and  carried  into 
execution  this  bold  programme  was  Sir  Julius  Vogel. 
During  the  seven  years  he  had  sat  in  the  House,  his 
ability  in  finance,  his  convincing  force  as  a  jour- 
nalist, his  persuasive  charm  of  manner,  had  made 
him  a  popular  as  well  as  an  influential  figure  in 
New  Zealand  politics.  By  birth  a  Jew,  he  possessed 
most  of  the  best  and  some  of  the  worst  character- 
istics of  the  race.  He  had  a  capacity  for  finance 
that  amounted  to  genius;  he  had  a  love  for  the  ro- 
mance of  speculation  that  amounted  to  a  passion; 
the  great  future  that  awaited  the  undeveloped  Col- 
ony appealed  vividly  to  his  quick  fancy;  the  bold 
idea  of  anticipating  that  future  fired  his  imagina- 
tion. Would  the  people  of  New  Zealand  but  draw 


280  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

on  posterity  for  a  few  millions,  he  saw  for  the  colony 
in  the  immediate  future  an  inrush  of  population, 
rapid  expansion,  unparalleled  prosperity.  He  saw 
for  himself  the  fascinating  role  of  the  brilliant 
financier  dealing,  as  he  loved  to  deal,  in  big  millions 
and  big  ideas.  He  either  did  not  foresee,  or  did  not 
heed,  the  political  corruption,  reckless  extravagance 
and  disastrous  collapse  that  must  inevitably  accom- 
pany his  boom.  He  firmly  believed  in  the  ultimate 
good  of  his  scheme,  and  history  has  justified  the  be- 
lief. But  he  was  not  a  settler  in  the  colony,  he  was 
at  best  but  a  carpet-bag  politician;  a  citizen  of  the 
world,  he  had  no  territorial  sympathies;  his  house- 
hold gods  planted  no  firm  foot;  if  the  crash  came, 
he  would — and  did — "  seek  Lavinian  shores." 

His  projects  met  with  immediate  and  almost  uni- 
versal approval.  Parliament  gave  itself  up  unre- 
servedly to  his  schemes;  and  for  six  years  he  en- 
joyed an  amount  of  confidence  never  before  given 
to  one  man  in  the  House.  Outside  Parliament  his 
mana  was  equally  great.  Every  class  in  the  com- 
munity had  something  to  hope  from  a  proposal  to 
spend  ten  millions  of  borrowed  money  in  the  colony. 
For  the  workmen  there  were  higher  wages;  for  the 
traders  higher  prices.  Each  constituency  had  its 
bridge  or  road  or  railway  in  view  to  enrich  the  set- 
tlers; and  the  first  duty  of  its  representatives  in 
Parliament  was  to  see  that  they  got  it.  Every  land- 
owner saw  his  freehold  prospectively  doubled  in 
value.  For  ten  years  the  settlers  had  been  fighting 
•with  the  Maori  for  peace  and  safety;  now  they 
fought  with  each  other  for  loaves  and  fishes.  For 
the  inglorious  struggle  of  the  Maori  Wars  was  sub- 
stituted the  still  more  inglorious  struggle  of  "log- 
rolling." 


THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY.  281 

Vogel  found  it  an  easy  task  to  persuade  the  people. 
He  became  at  once  the  popular  idol.  His  frank  and 
kindly  nature;  his  unbounded  confidence  in  himself 
and  his  scheme;  his  generosity  to  his  friends,  his 
even  greater  generosity  to  foes,  would  have  won  the 
heart  of  the  people,  even  had  his  project  not  appealed 
so  strongly  to  their  interests.  He  belonged  as  truly 
to  the  great  race — the  race  of  borrowers — as  Charles 
Lamb's  prince  of  borrowers,  Ralph  Bigod,  Esquire. 
He  had,  like  Bigod,  "  an  undeniable  way  with  him," 
"  in  his  periegesis  or  triumphal  progress  through 
these  islands  "  he  converted  to  his  views,  all  but  a 
tithe  of  the  inhabitants ;  and  with  the  whole  country 
firmly  devoted  to  Vogelism,  he  set  out  for  England 
"  like  some  Alexander  upon  his  great  enterprise, 
borrowing  and  to  borrow !  " 

In  the  session  of  1870  Parliament  had  passed 
Bills  authorizing  the  floating  in  the  London  market 
of  a  loan  of  ten  millions,  and  the  sale  of  two  and 
a  half  million  acres  of  land  to  defray  the  cost  of 
railway  and  other  works  and  of  state-aided  immi- 
gration. A  rise  in  prices  of  wool  and  wheat  had  im- 
proved the  Colony's  credit  and  no  difficulty  was 
found  in  raising  this  and  subsequent  loans,  though 
the  rates  were  high ;  the  promised  means  of  inland 
communication  had  created  a  feverish  demand  for 
land,  and  the  two  and  a  half  million  acres,  the  price 
of  which  was  to  be  spent  by  the  provincial  govern- 
ments, found  a  ready  market.  Yogel's  administra- 
tion of  his  policy  was  not  so  admirable  as  the  incep- 
tion of  it.  He  committed  the  Colony,  without  the 
authority  of  Parliament,  to  contracts  amounting  to 
a  million  sterling,  with  a  great  firm  of  English  rail- 
way contractors,  at  prices  which  were  in  some  cases 
20  per  cent  above  engineers'  estimates;  when  the 


282  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Government  was  free  to  let  its  contracts  by  tender, 
the  cost  was  often  5  per  cent  below  them.  A  great 
part  of  the  loan  was  in  this  way  extravagantly  wasted. 
Nor  was  the  Ministry  of  the  day  always  strong 
enough  to  resist  the  log-rolling  of  members  of  the 
House.  To  retain  power  they  were  compelled  to 
construct  many  miles  of  useless  or  premature 
railways  and  roads.  Preliminary  surveys  were 
often  hasty  and  many  of  the  great  arterial  roads 
of  the  Colony  have  since  had  to  be  deflected  or 
regraded.  But  for  all  the  reckless  faults  in  its 
administration,  the  Public  Works  policy  has  con- 
ferred untold  good  in  developing  the  resources 
of  the  Colony  and  accelerating  settlement.  No 
subsequent  Ministry,  at  least,  has  ever  seriously 
proposed  to  depart  from  its  main  principles,  though 
strong  reaction  has  set  in  against  its  reckless  haste. 
During  Vogel's  administration  the  public  debt  of  the 
Colony  rose  from  seven  to  twenty  millions;  it  has 
since  been  increased  to  £46,000,000 — of  which  the 
last  eight  have  been  added  by  a  government  dis- 
tinctly pledged  to  a  non-borrowing  policy.  But  the 
wealth,  population,  and  resources  of  the  Colony  have 
grown  even  more  rapidly  than  its  indebtedness;  and 
in  spite  of  a  public  debt  that  amounts  to  £61  4s.  5d. 
per  head  of  population,  New  Zealand's  credit  in  the 
money  markets  of  the  world  stands  higher  than  ever 
before.  In  1875  Sir  Julius  Vogel  sold  a  four  mil- 
lion 4  per  cent  loan  to  the  Rothschilds  at  a  price 
that  realised  a  trifle  less  than  91  per  cent.  In  1898 
New  Zealand  3  per  cent  stock  was  quoted  at  101. 

"  Next  to  a  prolific  soil  and  the  possession  of 
great  natural  resources,"  says  a  prominent  authority, 
"there  is  no  adjunct  of  material  prosperity  that  is 
so  generally  important  and  exercises  so  vital  an  in- 


THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY.  283 

fluence  on  national  characteristics  as  the  growth  of 
the  railway  system."  *  In  recognition  of  this  truth 
by  far  the  most  important  item  in  the  Public  Works 
programme  was  railway  construction.  Of  the  46 
millions  of  our  public  debt,  15,  or  a  little  under  one- 
third,  have  been  spent  on  railways.  In  1870,  with 
the  exception  of  three  short  lines — in  all  46  miles — 
connecting  Auckland,  Christchurch  and  Invercar- 
gill  with  adjacent  seaports,  there  were  no  railways 
in  the  colony.  There  are  now  2090  miles  open  for 
traffic,  constructed  at  a  total  cost  of  £7,848  per  mile, 
and  yielding  a  net  revenue  equal  to  £3.5  per  cent  on 
the  outlay.  A  trunk  line  runs  along  the  East  Coast 
of  the  South  Island  for  the  greater  part  of  its  length 
from  Bluff  Harbour  in  the  extreme  south,  through 
Dunedin  and  Christchurch  to  the  Hurunui  River; 
it  is  ultimately  destined  to  terminate  at  the  port  of 
Picton,  in  the  north  of  the  island.  Similarly  a 
trunk  line  will  ultimately  run  through  the  centre  of 
the  North  Island  from  Wellington  to  Auckland, 
though  the  portion  in  the  interior  is  yet  to  be  con- 
structed. When  these  lines  are  completed,  as  they 
will  be  in  the  not  far  distant  future,  there  will  be 
through  railway  communication  from  Auckland  in 
the  north  to  the  Bluff  in  the  south,  with  the  single 
interruption  of  a  six  hours'  steamer  service  across 
the  boisterous  Cook's  Strait.  A  transverse  line  con- 
nects the  East  and  West  Coasts  of  the  North  Island 
from  Napier  to  New  Plymouth;  and  in  course  of 
time  the  East  and  West  Coasts  of  the  South  Island 
will  be  similarly  connected  by  a  railway  from  Christ- 
church  to  Greymouth. 

Next  in  importance  to  railway  construction   in 
Vogel's  programme  came   state-aided   immigration. 
*  New  Zealand  Tear  Book  (1894) 


284  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Settlers  were  induced  to  come  out  to  the  Colony  by 
part  payment  of  their  passage  money  and  by  grants 
of  Crown  lands.  The  prosperity  of  the  Colony  and 
the  scope  for  employment  it  offered  attracted  many 
others;  and  between  1871  and  1881  the  population 
increased  from  a  quarter  to  half  a  million.  Little 
care  was  taken  to  select  settlers  with  capital  or  ex- 
perience. Messrs.  Brogden  &  Sons,  the  railway  con- 
tractors, for  example,  sent  out  2000  "  navvies " ; 
while  the  Public  Works  Policy  was  in  full  swing 
they  did  well  enough,  when  it  collapsed  they  went 
to  swell  the  ranks  of  unemployed  unskilled  labour. 
Large  numbers  of  German  and  Scandinavian  set- 
tlers were  also  imported.  Most  of  them  were  igno- 
rant of  farming;  few  of  them  possessed  money; 
and  none  of  them  knew  a  word  of  the  language.  They 
were  dumped  down  on  40-acre  grants  of  bush-clad 
land  in  the  central  parts  of  the  North  Island,  where 
names  like  Dannevirke  and  Norsewood  attest  the 
nationality  of  the  original  settlers.  Most  of  them 
found  Colonial  life  a  hard  school;  but  they  have 
thriven  in  the  face  of  enormous  disadvantages;  and 
their  sons  and  daughters,  English  in  their  language 
and  their  ideas,  are  now  settled  in  comfortable  home- 
steads on  fertile  dairy  farms  where  only  a  few 
charred  stumps  or  the  ruins  of  a  log  hut  remain  to 
remind  them  of  the  difficulties  their  fathers  con- 
quered a  generation  ago. 

Vogelism  had  other  results,  however,  than  the 
creation  of  40-acre  settlements.  It  produced  the 
wildest  "land-boom"  the  Colony  has  known.  The 
North  Island  provinces  had  little  land  to  sell;  the 
natives  there  still  held  most  of  the  territory.  But 
the  South  Island  provinces  had  broad  acres;  the 
revenue  from  the  sale  of  these,  by  "  The  Land  Com- 


THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY.  285 

pact  of  1856,"  passed  to  the  Provincial  exchequers; 
and  the  legislatures  vied  with  each  other  in  selling 
their  acres  and  swelling  their  revenues.  In  Canter- 
bury, in  particular,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres 
were  sold  on  the  "  free  selection  "  system  at  a  fixed 
price  of  £2  an  acre.  Hundreds  of  thousands  more 
changed  hands  between  private  owners  at  prices 
ridiculously  inflated.  Times  were  prosperous;  mar- 
kets were  rising;  borrowed  millions  were  pouring 
into  the  country;  and  the  people  gave  themselves 
up  without  restraint  to  a  mad  land-gamble.  The 
worst  feature  of  these  sales  by  Provincial  legisla- 
tures was  that  they  were  effected,  in  most  cases, 
without  any  attempt  to  impose  restraint  on  areas 
purchaseable  or  to  compel  occupation  or  improve- 
ment. The  result  was  that  enormous  blocks  of  fer- 
tile land  were  locked  up  in  the  hands  of  speculators 
and  absentee-owners;  and,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
all  attempts  to  rescue  for  the  state  any  portion  of 
the  increased  values  conferred  upon  these  lands  by 
the  roads  and  railways  were  successfully  resisted  by 
the  advocates  of  provincialism,  backed  up  by  the 
landholders  who  at  this  time  had  a  predominant 
voice  in  government. 

We  have  said  that  the  Public  Works  Policy  led, 
as  its  direct  consequence,  to  the  abolition  of  the  Pro- 
vincial system  of  government.  That  system  was 
the  natural  outcome,  in  part,  of  the  settlement  of 
the  Colony  at  different  periods  by  independent  col- 
onising associations;  in  part,  of  the  geographical 
configuration  of  the  country.  It  had  many  advan- 
tages to  commend  it  and  had  so  far  worked  well. 
But  it  was  not  adapted,  without  considerable  amend- 
ment, to  the  growing  national  life.  As  originally 
constituted,  the  government  of  each  province  was 


286  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

entrusted  to  a  Provincial  Council,  members  of  which 
were  elected  on  a  household  suffrage,  by  separate 
districts;  and  to  a  Superintendent,  chosen  by  the 
whole  body  of  electors  in  the  province.  In  the  Coun- 
cil was  vested  the  legislative,  in  the  Superintend- 
ent, the  executive  functions  of  government.  But 
the  powers  of  legislation  delegated  to  the  Council 
were  much  too  wide  and  led  to  an  intolerable  waste 
of  power  and  an  equally  intolerable  variety  of  laws. 
The  spectacle  of  nine  Provincial  Councils,  in  a  col- 
ony with  a  quarter  million  inhabitants,  framing  in- 
dependent laws  and  systems  on  such  matters  as  taxa- 
tion and  land-settlement,  education  and  licensing, 
harbours  and  railways,  approached  closely  to  the 
farcical.  Equally  farcical  was  their  exercise  of  ex- 
ecutive power.  There  had  grown  up  in  most  of  the 
provinces  an  elaborate  system  of  government  by  re- 
sponsible ministries,  a  cumbersome  parliamentary 
procedure,  and  a  pretentious  and  expensive  mockery 
of  government  by  party,  which  had  only  the  effect 
of  obscuring  and  destroying  the  original  plan  of  a 
popularly  elected  Superintendent  acting  as  a  check 
upon  a  less  popularly  elected  chamber.  From  the 
first,  there  had  been  in  the  General  Assembly  a  party 
strongly  opposed  to  the  continuance  of  these  pro- 
vincial legislatures.  The  confusion  of  land-laws, 
the  chaos  of  education  systems,  the  conflict  in  ad- 
ministrative machinery,  had  increased  the  opposition. 
The  large  land  revenues  of  the  Southern  provinces 
roused  the  jealousy  of  the  Northern.  And  now, 
when  a  comprehensive  system  of  public  works  was 
proposed,  the  existence  of  the  provincial  system 
proved  an  obstacle  to  its  successful  adoption.  Sir 
Julius  Vogel  had  been  elected  as  a  strong  provincial- 
jst.  His  wise  scheme  for  recouping  the  cost  of  rail- 


THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY.  287 

ways  by  reserving  as  public  estate  the  land  through 
which  they  would  pass — a  far-sighted  anticipation 
of  the  principle  of  Betterment — was  defeated  by 
provincialists,  jealous  for  their  lands.  An  equally 
wise  measure  for  planting  State  forests  to  counter- 
balance the  rapid  deforestation  of  the  country  before 
the  advance  of  settlement,  was  similarly  defeated  by 
provincialists,  jealous  for  their  prerogatives.  These 
two  checks  turned  Vogel  from  an  advocate  into  an 
enemy  of  the  system;  and  the  provinces  were 
doomed. 

The  manner  of  their  abolition  cannot  be  defended. 
Vogel  himself  had  been  elected  as  a  provincialist, 
and  he  gave  his  constituency  no  opportunity  of  pro- 
nouncing a  verdict  upon  his  change  of  attitude. 
Many  of  the  party  who  now  followed  him  in  the 
House  had  similarly  altered  their  views  without  con- 
sulting the  electors.  The  House  could,  in  fact,  in 
no  true  sense  be  said  to  reflect  public  opinion.  It 
w as  elected  for  five  years  on  a  limited  suffrage ;  the 
basis  of  representation  was  so  anomalous  that,  while 
one  member  represented  as  many  as  1600  electors, 
another  represented  only  103.  And  this  House, 
divorced  as  it  was  from  public  opinion  in  the  Colony, 
carried  out  this  important  change  in  the  constitution 
without  giving  the  people  a  fair  opportunity  to  pro- 
nounce a  verdict. 

The  representatives  of  the  middle  provinces  in 
Parliament  were  in  favour  of  abolition.  Auckland 
and  Otago  opposed  it.  But  subsidies  to  local  bodies, 
— road  boards,  harbour  boards,  and  town  corpora- 
tions— were  offered  with  such  lavish  extravagance 
as  to  amount  to  the  grossest  bribery. 

Outside  the  House  public  opinion  was  in  a  state 
of  ferment.  Sir  George  Grey,  who  had  been  living 


288  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

in  retirement  for  some  years  at  his  beautiful  island 
of  Kawau  among  his  beloved  books  and  his  faithful 
Maori  attendants,  came  back  into  public  life  to  de- 
fend the  constitution  he  had  framed.  He  consented 
to  accept  the  position  of  Superintendent  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Auckland  and  also  became  the  representative 
of  Auckland  City  in  Parliament.  He  at  once  be- 
came the  recognised  leader  of  the  Provincial  Party. 
He  developed  a  gift  of  eloquence  as  irresistible  as  it 
was  unexpected.  His  fervid  enthusiasm,  his  pic- 
turesque imagination,  the  rich  music  of  his  voice, 
the  convincing  force  of  his  periods  made  him  prob- 
ably the  finest  platform  orator  New  Zealand  has 
known.  At  public  meetings  throughout  the  Colony 
he  carried  all  before  him.  The  great  proconsul  had 
become  equally  great  as  the  tribune  of  the  people. 

In  1874,  Sir  Julius  Vogel  went  to  England  again 
on  another  of  his  financial  expeditions,  "  borrowing 
and  to  borrow."  Dr.  Pollen  became  Premier;  but 
Major  Atkinson  had  charge  of  the  Bill  which  pro- 
posed the  abolition  of  the  provinces  in  both  islands. 
Sir  George  Grey  took  his  seat  as  member  for  Auck- 
land and  as  leader  of  the  opposition.  Long  and  acri- 
monious were  the  debates;  every  constitutional  de- 
vice of  obstruction  and  stone-walling  was  resorted 
to  by  the  opposition ;  mass  meetings  throughout  the 
Colony  clamoured  for  an  appeal  to  the  people.  But 
all  would  not  do.  The  centralist  majority  was  as 
solidly  united  as  it  was  numerically  overpowering. 
At  length  what  was  called  a  compromise  was  effected. 
The  Bill  was  to  pass ;  but  was  not  to  come  into  force 
till  after  a  general  election. 

This  plausible  concession  really  cheated  the  people 
of  their  right  to  an  effective  expression  of  opinion. 
The  Bill  was  presented  to  the  constituencies,  not  as 


THE  PUBLIC  WORKS  POLICY.  289 

an  open  question,  but  as  an  accomplished  fact. 
Every  member  who  stood  as  a  provincialist  had  to 
reconcile  his  constituents  to  the  loss  of  a  bridge,  or 
a  road,  or  a  railway  or  some  promised  local  subsidy. 
Another  Bill  prohibited  the  provincial  councils  from 
meeting  till  after  the  next  sitting  of  Parliament, 
and  thus  gagged  the  most  effective  mouthpiece  of 
public  opinion.  A  further  Bill  added  ten  new  mem- 
bers to  the  House,  the  majority  of  the  new  electorates 
being  in  the  districts  favourable  to  abolition. 

The  result  was  what  might  have  been  expected. 
The  subsidies  proved  too  tempting  a  sop  to  the  con- 
stituencies, and  the  new  Parliament,  elected  amid 
turmoil  and  excitement  unprecedented  in  the  history 
of  the  Colony,  contained  like  its  predecessor  a  cen- 
tralist majority,  and  abolition  remained  in  force. 

The  lapse  of  years  has  proved  that  abolition  was 
a  wise  measure.  It  was  at  least  preferable  to  the 
continuance  of  the  old  system  unamended ;  and  the 
restoration  of  the  provincial  system  has  never  since 
been  a  serious  political  question,  though  the  old 
jealousies  long  remained — and  still  remain — a  dis- 
turbing element  in  the  Colony's  politics.  The  cen- 
tral system  of  government  established  in  1876,  de- 
spite its  defects  of  origin,  has  justified  itself,  like 
the  Public  Works  policy,  by  its  ultimate  results. 

As  a  substitute  for  the  provincial  legislatures,  a 
Local  Government  Act  created  63  counties  and  an 
endless  succession  of  subordinate  governing  bodies. 
There  are  separate  councils  to  manage  counties  and 
towns;  separate  boards  to  control  harbours,  and 
roads,  drainage  and  irrigation,  hospitals  and  chari- 
table aid;  while  educational,  electoral  and  judicial 
districts  overlap  each  other  in  a  hopelessly  confused 
network  of  boundaries.  The  multiplicity  and  in- 


290  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

tricacy  of  these  petty  local  bodies  is,  in  view  of  the 
small  population  of  the  Colony,  almost  as  sorry  a 
burlesque  as  the  old  system  of  government  by  nine 
parliaments.  But  while  the  well-regulated  provincial 
system  resulted  in  a  vigorous  local  activity,  its  cha- 
otic substitute  has  produced  only  apathy  and  in- 
efficiency. The  people  of  !MTew  Zealand  take  a  keen 
and  intelligent  interest  in  general  politics;  as  to 
municipal  matters  they  are  strikingly  indifferent. 
Various  schemes  have  from  time  to  time  been  pro- 
posed for  a  thorough-going  amalgamation  and  re- 
arrangement of  this  unsystematic  system  of  local 
government.  But  no  Ministry  has  so  far  had  the 
energy  or  the  courage  to  see  them  through. 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  291 


CHAPTER  XXI1L 

THE    COBTTINTJOUS    MINISTRY. 

FOR  a  period  of  twenty  years,  from  1870  to  1890, 
"New  Zealand  was  governed,  except  for  two  short 
intervals,  by  a  combination,  or  a  succession  of  com- 
binations of  rulers  who  constituted  what  will  bo 
known  in  its  history  as  the  "  Continuous  Ministry." 
The  exceptions  were  the  ministry  of  Sir  George 
Grey  (1877-1879)  and  the  Stout- Vogel  Coalition 
(1884-1887).  During  the  remaining  fifteen  years 
t,he  "  Continuous  Ministry  "  held  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment. In  the  early  seventies  it  was  a  Fox-Vogel- 
Atkinson  combination;  during  the  early  eighties  it 
was  an  Atkinson-Whitaker-Hall  combination.  Per- 
sonal changes  there  were  many;  the  position  of 
Premier  in  the  Combination  changed  no  less  than 
ten  times  within  the  period.  Its  policy,  too,  changed 
with  the  changing  circumstances  of  the  Colony. 
During  the  prosperity  of  the  seventies,  it  was  bor- 
rowing and  extravagance;  during  the  depression  of 
the  eighties,  it  was  borrowing  and  retrenchment; 
but,  though  less  and  less,  borrowing  always.  It  has 
now  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  "  Conservative  "  ad- 
ministration. Yet  it  passed  many  constitutional  re- 
forms in  the  direction  of  radicalism,  and  it  extended, 
in  some  remarkable  ways,  the  functions  of  the  State 
— a  policy  usuallv  regarded,  in  New  Zealand  at  any 
rate,  as  distinctly  "  Liberal."  It  is  true  that  in  some 
of  its  radical  reforms,  like  the  extension  of  the  f ran- 


292  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

chise,  it  merely  adopted  the  programme  which  Sir 
George  Grey  with  his  small  majority  was  unable  to 
carry  into  effect  during  his  premiership.  But  a 
combination  of  rulers  that  included  Sir  Harry  At- 
kinson, with  his  persistent  advocacy  of  old  age 
annuities ;  Sir  John  Hall  with  his  ardent  champion- 
ship of  women's  Franchise;  the  Hon.  W.  Rolleston 
with  his  village-settlement  schemes;  and  the  Hon. 
C.  C.  Bowen  with  his  free  and  compulsory  Educa- 
tion Act,  cannot  without  violence  to  language  bo 
called  "  Tory  "  or  "  Retrogressive."  No  doubt  Sir 
George  Grey's  influence,  whether  in  or  out  of  office, 
contributed  largely  to  the  adoption  of  democratic 
reforms;  no  doubt  also,  Sir  Robert  Stout  and  the 
Hon.  John  Ballance,  in  the  Stout- Vogel  Coalition, 
were  responsible  for  many  useful  progressive  meas- 
ures. But  for  fifteen  years  of  the  twenty,  the  "  Con- 
tinuous Ministry  "  were  in  office ;  during  the  two 
intervals  when  they  were  in  opposition,  they  were 
so  strong  numerically  as  to  exercise  a  powerful  con- 
trol over  legislation;  and  to  them  must  be  ascribed 
the  major  part  of  the  credit  for  what  was  good,  and 
of  the  blame  for  what  was  bad,  in  the  political  de- 
velopments of  the  period. 

The  aim  of  this  book,  however,  is  to  narrate,  im- 
partially as  far  as  can  be,  the  story  of  the  Colony's 
progress,  not  to  apportion  to  contending  political 
parties  their  share  of  praise  or  blame.  It  will  there- 
fore only  be  necessary  to  indicate  very  briefly  the 
chief  changes  of  ministry  that  occurred. 

We  have  already  in  the  preceding  chapter  sketched 
the  history  of  the  Public  Works  Policy  and  its  re- 
sults. In  18Y6,  its  originator,  Sir  Julius  Vogel, 
nfter  seeing  the  Colony  fairly  embarked  on  its  career 
of  borrowing,  left  it  to  work  out  its  own  financial 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  293 

salvation  and  accepted  the  post,  of  Agent-General  in 
London.  Sir  Harry  (then  Major)  Atkinson  suc- 
ceeded to  the  premiership  of  the  Continuous  Minis- 
try, but  gave  place,  after  a  year,  to  Sir  George  Grey. 
He  had  rallied  the  old  Provincial  party  round  him 
and  carried  the  1877  election  on  a  strongly  radical 
programme  which  included  triennial  parliaments, 
one  man  one  vote  and  a  land  tax.  Grey  as  Premier 
preached  economy,  his  colleagues  practised  extrava- 
gance; on  the  platform  he  had  easily  captivated  the 
electors  with  his  nebulous  projects  for  the  good  of 
the  "  unborn  millions  " ;  in  the  cabinet  he  proved 
an  autocratic  and  tactless  leader;  was  quite  unable 
to  control  his  colleagues;  and  soon  quarrelled  with 
the  best  of  them.  His  majority  was  too  small  to 
allow  him  to  carry  his  constitutional  reforms;  the 
land  tax  which  he  did  carry  did  not  produce  the 
expected  revenue;  and  when  he  left  office  in  1879, 
after  two  years  of  administrative  muddling,  the  pub- 
lic debt  had  been  increased  by  five  millions;  the 
revenue  had  diminished ;  and  a  fall  in  the  prices  of 
our  staple  products  had  produced  commercial  de- 
pression. The  time  for  taxation  and  retrenchment 
had  come ;  and  the  Hall-Atkinson  party  were  called 
to  office  to  apply  the  drastic  remedy.  Their  taxation 
took  the  form  of  a  Property  Tax  of  one  penny  in 
the  pound  on  the  capital  value  of  every  citizen's 
possessions.  Their  retrenchment  was  effected  by 
the  rough  and  ready  method  of  a  ten  per  cent  re- 
duction in  all  public  salaries.  Such  a  policy  was 
not  likely  to  be  long  popular.  In  1884,  accordingly, 
when  Sir  Julius  Vogel  returned  to  the  Colony,  he 
was  soon  restored  to  popular  favour  and  again  en- 
tered the  House.  He  had  become  divorced  from  the 
old  "  Continuous  "  party ;  and  Sir  George  Grey  had 


294  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

been  deposed  from  the  leadership  of  the  "  Liberal " 
section  of  the  House,  in  which  the  most  conspicuous 
member  now  was  Sir  Robert  (then  Mr.)  Stout.  The 
two  joined  forces  and  assumed  office  as  the  Stout- 
Vogel  Coalition.  Vogel  as  Treasurer  pushed  on 
borrowing  and  public  works,  though  not  with  the 
old  daring  or  the  old  extravagance.  Stout  and  Bal- 
lance  devoted  themselves  to  legislation  in  the  direc- 
tion of  social  improvement.  So  ill-matched  a  team 
did  not  long  pull  together,  and  1887  found  the  Col- 
ony's finances  still  far  removed  from  a  condition  of 
equilibrium.  Once  more  Atkinson  was  called  in  to 
"  save  the  republic  "  by  the  same  unpopular  means  of 
increased  taxation  and  retrenchment.  The  customs 
duties  were  increased  till  they  became,  though  nomi- 
nally imposed  for  revenue  purposes,  practically  pro- 
tective. The  salaries  of  the  Governor  and  the  Minis- 
ters and  the  honorariums  of  members  of  Parliament 
were  cut  down ;  and  the  number  of  members  of  the 
elective  chamber  was  reduced  from  95  to  74.  The 
Colony  had  at  last  set  its  house  in  order;  and  when 
the  Continuous  Ministry  had  finally  accomplished 
the  ungrateful  task,  it  was  driven  from  office  and 
made  its  exit  from  the  stage  of  New  Zealand  politics, 
Sir  Harry  Atkinson  did  not  long  survive  his  re- 
tirement from  Ministerial  duties.  For  years  past, 
as  its  most  able  financier,  he  had  been  the  prop  and 
stay  of  the  "  Continuous  Ministry  " ;  and  upon  him 
had  fallen  the  brunt  of  its  work.  His  colleague? 
had  recruited  their  energies  in  longer  or  shorter 
periods  of  retirement ;  he  had  been  ever  at  his  post. 
When  driven  from  office,  he  exchanged  the  Treasury 
Bench  in  the  Lower  House  for  the  Speaker's  chair 
in  the  Upper.  "But  he  did  not  long  live  to  enjoy  his 
release  from  the  fitful  fever  of  party  strife.  In 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  395 

1892  he  died,  as  he  would  have  wished  to  die,  in 
harness — in  the  precincts  of  that  House  in  which  so 
many  strenuous  years  of  his  life  had  been  passed 
in  the  service  of  the  Colony.  The  last  words  of  the 
trusty  soldier-politician  were  characteristic  of  the 
man :  "  I  have  received  my  marching  orders."  Jus- 
turn  et  tenacem  propositi  virum! 

Some  important  constitutional  changes  were  ef- 
fected during  the  period  covered  by  the  history  of 
the  "  Continuous  Ministry/'  all  in  the  direction  of 
increasing  the  popular  control  over  the  legislature. 
A  Ballot  Bill  was  passed  on  the  eve  of  their  acces- 
sion to  power.  The  principle  of  payment  of  members 
was  established,  thus  removing  an  important  restric- 
tion upon  the  selection  of  representatives.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Legislative  Council  are  paid  £150,  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  £240,  per  annum;  in 
each  case  the  salary  is  paid  monthly,  with  deductions 
for  absence  during  session  and  a  liberal  allowance 
for  travelling  expenses.  The  duration  of  Parlia- 
ment was  reduced  from  five  years  to  three;  and  in 
1887-1889  Acts  were  passed  removing  anomalies 
then  existing  and  placing  the  system  of  representa- 
tion upon  a  strict  population  basis.  To  the  "  country 
population  " — that  is  to  say  people  living  outside 
of  towns  of  2000  or  more  inhabitants — 28  per  cent 
is  added ;  and  the  total  European  population  of  the 
Colony  thus  ascertained,  is  divided  by  70 — the  num- 
ber of  European  members,  and  the  quotient  obtained 
gives  the  electoral  quota.  It  will  be  readily  imagined 
that  this  arithmetical  process  of  arriving  at  electoral 
districts  gives  rise  to  some  difficulties  in  the  limita- 
tion of  boundaries ;  but  the  electoral  Commissioners 
have  a  reasonable  margin  allowed  within  which  to 
exercise  their  discretion,  and  this  enables  them  to 


296  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

fix  the  districts  with  some  regard  for  community  of 
interest,  facilities  for  communication,  and  topo- 
graphical features.  The  Maori  population  is  divided 
into  four  electoral  districts,  each  returning  one 
native  member  to  the  House  of  Representatives; 
and  two  Maoris  have  seats  in  the  Legislative  Coun- 
cil. Provision  is  made  for  interpreting  their 
speeches.  This  was  no  doubt  necessary  twenty  or 
thirty  years  ago.  But  so  many  Maoris  now  speak 
and  write  English,  and  education  has  made  such 
marked  progress  among  them,  that  it  would  be  no 
hardship  to  compel  the  natives  to  select  as  their 
representatives  men  conversant  with  the  English 
language.  Several  of  the  Maori  members  at  present 
in  Parliament  are  among  its  most  educated  and 
polished  speakers;  and  only  occasionally  employ  an 
interpreter  with  the  adroit  purpose  of  prolonging  a 
"  stone-wall." 

But  the  most  far-reaching  constitutional  change 
effected  during  these  years  was  the  adoption,  in 
1899  of  the  principle  popularly  known  as  "  one 
man,  one  vote."  The  qualification  for  electors  was 
two-fold.  There  was  a  "  property  qualification  "  in 
virtue  of  holding  property  in  an  electoral  district; 
and  a  "  residential  qualification  "  in  virtue  of  living 
in  it.  An  elector  might  record  as  many  votes  at  any 
election  as  there  were  electoral  districts  in  which  he 
possessed  property  or  resided,  the  only  limitation 
on  this  power  being  the  travelling  necessary.  The 
'Act  of  1889  forbade  an  elector  to  exercise  a  vote  in 
respect  of  more  than  one  constituency  af  the  same 
election.  It  thus  placed  the  franchise  in  New  Zea- 
land on  what  was  practically  a  manhood  basis.  By 
a  subsequent  amending  Act  *  the  last  political  privi- 
.  *  Under  the  1889  Act  an  elector  retained  the  option  of  de- 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  297 

lege  attached  to  the  ownership  of  property  was  done 
away  with  in  the  colony. 

It  is  inevitable  in  a  young  community  that  the 
functions  of  Government  should  be  more  extensive 
than  is  necessary,  or  perhaps  advisable,  in  older 
countries.  In  New  Zealand,  at  all  events,  the  doc- 
trine of  laissez-faire  has  never  met  with  much  ac- 
ceptance. "  State  Socialism "  in  New  Zealand  is 
often  regarded  as  having  begun  in  1891 ;  and,  as 
we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  that  year  did  mark 
an  important  change  in  public  opinion  on  social- 
istic legislation.  But  the  colony  had  already,  under 
the  regime  of  the  "  Continuous  Ministry,"  advanced 
far  on  the  same  path  of  development.  The  Public 
Works  Policy  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  State  the 
ownership  and  management  of  the  whole  Railway, 
Telegraph  and  Telephone  systems  of  the  colony ;  the 
Central  Government  during  the  same  period  founded 
and  endowed  the  New  Zealand  University  and  estab- 
lished our  State  system  of  "  free,  secular,  and  com- 
pulsory "  education ;  and  it  undertook,  in  addition, 
the  business  of  Life  Insurance,  a  system  of  Land 
Transfer,  and  a  Public  Trust  Office. 

In  1870,  the  Government  of  New  Zealand,  with  a 
view  to  promoting  thrift  among  the  colonists,  estab- 
lished a  State  Life  Insurance  office.  At  that  time 
they  had  not  the  facilities  they  now  enjoy  of  insur- 
ing with  private  Companies,  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  institution  of  a  system  of  State  life 
insurance  gave  a  great  stimulus  to  this  form  of 

ciding  in  which  electorate  he  would  exercise  his  one  vote. 
He  might  vote  where  lie  resided  or  where  he  owned  prop- 
erty— a  provision  of  some  importance  in  the  case  of  a  bye- 
election.  An  Act  of  189G  abolished  the  '  property  qualifi- 
cation," 


298  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

thrift,  the  "  State  guarantee  "  forming  an  attraction 
to  many  people  in  whose  minds  is  a  rooted  distrust 
of  joint-stock  Companies.  It  is  at  any  rate  a  fact 
that  the  people  of  New  Zealand  carry,  proportion- 
ately, more  insurance  on  their  lives  than  the  popula- 
tion of  any  other  nation  in  the  world;  and  that  the 
State  office  is  responsible  for  this  admirable  result 
to  the  extent  of  holding  nearly  one-half  of  the  total 
assurance  of  the  colony.  On  the  average,  every 
male  adult  carries  life  insurance  amounting  to  a 
little  over  £75.  The  popularity  of  the  institution 
is  abundantly  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  the  quarter 
century,  1872-189Y,  the  number  of  policies  in  the 
Government  Office  increased  from  less  than  two 
thousand  to  more  than  thirty-six  thousand,  and  the 
sum  assured  from  half  a  million  to  nine  millions. 

In  18YO,  also,  Sir  Julius  Vogel  established  the 
Torrens  system  of  Land  Transfer  in  the  Colony. 
All  Crown  Grants  are  now  made  under  it;  lands, 
alienated  before  it  came  into  force,  can  be  brought 
under  it,  where  a  clear  title  exists.  The  transfer  of 
land1',  once  made  subject  to  the  Act,  is  effected  by  a 
simple  and  inexpensive  process ;  the  outlay  of  a  few 
shillings  enables  a  purchaser  to  secure  a  perfect  and 
indefeasible  title,  guaranteed  by  the  State.  Practi- 
cally, Government  offices  do  the  whole  of  the  convey- 
ancing business  of  the  country;  and  the  cheapness 
and  security  of  the  system  has  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  rapid  progress  of  land  settlement. 

In  1872,  the  Public  Trust  Office  was  instituted. 
The  scheme  was  first  suggested  by  the  Hon.  E.  C. 
J.  Stevens,  an  able  man  of  business,  who  several 
times  held  office  in  the  "  Continuous  Ministry  " ;  but 
the  credit  of  carrying  it  into  effect  belongs  in  this 
case,  as  in  that  of  the  Government  Life  Insurance 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  299 

Office,  to  Sir  Julius  Vogel.  The  Public  Trustee 
administers  intestate  estates  in  cases  where  the  rela- 
tives of  the  deceased  are  unknown,  or  where  the  per- 
sons entitled  to  administer  request  him  to  do  so,  or 
neglect  to  apply  for  the  necessary  authority  them- 
selves. Testators  may  appoint  him  sole  trustee  of 
their  wills.  He  administers  fully  ninety  per  cent 
of  the  estates  of  lunatics  in  the  colony ;  and  he  may 
be  named  substitute  for  any  trustees  of  property  in 
the  colony,  who  are  unwilling  or  unable  to 
perform  their  duties.  The  Public  Trust  Office 
confers  these  advantages  for  the  most  moderate 
charges;  the  advice  of  the  office  solicitor  is  given 
gratis  in  matters  of  administration;  and  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  office  is  conducive  to  economy  and 
expedition.  The  Public  Trustee  never  dies,  never 
leaves  the  Colony,  never  becomes  insolvent.  The 
fidelity  of  his  administration  is  secured  by  statute; 
the  Colony  guarantees  Capital  monies  against  loss 
by  bad  investments,  and  secures  to  the  beneficiaries 
the  payment  of  a  common  rate  of  interest.  The 
Public  Trust  Office  is  deservedly  one  of  the  most 
popular,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  admirable,  Govern- 
ment Institutions  in  the  Colony;  the  people  have 
absolute  confidence  in  it;  and  as  its  usefulness  and 
convenience  become  better  known,  its  services  will 
be  more  and  more  in  request.  At  the  present  time 
2413  estates  of  various  kinds  are  administered  by 
the  Public  Trustee — their  aggregate  value  being 
close  upon  two  millions. 

But  while  the  reforms  in  the  Constitution  and 
the  experiments  in  Socialism  carried  out  by  the  Con- 
tinuous Ministry  are  worthy  of  all  praise,  their  Na- 
tive Policy  was  disgraced  by  a  blunder  that  was 
worse  than  a  crime.  During  the  first  seven  years  of 


300  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

their  administration,  Native  affairs  were  under  the 
entire  direction  of  Sir  Donald  McLean.  He  was 
probably  the  wisest  Native  Minister  the  Colony  has 
possessed.  His  conciliatory  attitude — his  "  Sugar 
and  Blankets  Policy,"  as  it  was  called — brought 
about  what  the  "  alarums  and  excursions  "  of  regu- 
lars and  militia  had  failed  to  effect — the  Maori  War 
died  out.  The  "  King  movement  "  had  fizzled  away, 
and  Tawhiao  was  left  to  the  enjoyment  of  an  empty 
dignity — a  King  of  shadows.  On  the  West  Coast, 
the  misjudged  patriot  Wiremu  Kingi  was  induced  to 
return  to  his  lands  at  Waitara ;  and  the  "  infamous 
character "  and  "  essential  savage "  of  Governor 
Browne's  despatches  was  received  in  New  Plymouth 
with  joyful  acclaims,  by  the  children  of  the  settlers 
who  had  so  long  mistaken  him  for  a  bloodthirsty  foe. 
Te  Kooti  was  never  captured,  the  pursuit  was 
abandoned  in  1872,  and  twelve  years  after  he  re- 
ceived the  Queen's  pardon.  Everywhere  the  Maoris 
had  desisted  from  active  hostility,  and  had  McLean's 
policy  of  even-handed  justice  and  generous  forbear- 
ance in  our  dealings  with  the  natives  been  persisted 
in,  no  more  would  have  been  heard  of  discord  be- 
tween the  races. 

But  after  his  retirement  in  18Y6  the  administra- 
tion of  native  affairs  was  characterised  successively 
by  blundering  incapacity  and  high-handed  arro- 
gance. Mr.  John  Sheehan  was  Native  Minister  in 
the  Grey  administration;  Mr.  John  Bryce  in  the 
Atkinson-Hall  Government.  The  first  would  not, 
the  second  could  not,  understand  the  grievances  of 
the  natives,  much  less  deal  with  them  in  a  sympa- 
thetic and  conciliatory  spirit.  They  succeeded  be- 
tween them  in  bringing  about  the  pitiable  fiasco  of 
Parihaka ;  the  wonder  is  that  they  did  not  plunge  the 
colony  into  another  war. 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  301 

The  Taranaki  war  had  been  followed,  we  have 
seen,  by  wholesale  confiscation.  But  promises  had 
repeatedly  been  given  that  reserves  should  be  made 
from  the  confiscated  territory,  and  restored  to  those 
natives  who  had  remained  friendly  during  the  con- 
test or  had  laid  aside  their  hostility.  Minister  after 
Minister  had  given  the  friendly  natives  the  same  as- 
surance ; — Ergo  tua  rua  manebunt.  But  the  perform- 
ance of  these  promises  was  again  and  again  delayed. 
Instead,  the  Grey  Government  caused  the  Parihaka 
lands  to  be  advertised  for  sale;  surveyors  were  sent 
to  make  sectional  surveys  and  to  lay  out  roads.  No 
explanation  was  offered  to  the  natives,  and  no  men- 
tion made  to  them  of  any  intention  to  set  aside  re- 
serves for  them.  The  past  experience  of  the 
Taranaki  Maoris  had  not  been  such  as  to  make  them 
trust  the  Government ;  and  they  naturally  concluded 
that  it  intended  again  to  break  faith  with  them. 

That  war  was  averted  was  due  entirely  to  the  wise 
patience  and  generous  forbearance  of  the  Parihaka 
Maoris;  for  they  were  at  this  time  completely  sub- 
ject to  the  influence  of  a  most  remarkable  man — Te 
Whiti.  In  rank  a  chief,  he  was  an  orator  rather 
than  a  soldier,  a  priest  rather  than  a  ruler;  but  his 
mana  among  his  own  people  was  greater  probably 
than  that  of  the  greatest  soldier-chief  the  race  had 
owned.  Educated  in  the  tenets  of  the  Christian 
faith  by  a  Lutheran  missionary  and  deeply  versed  in 
biblical  lore,  he  had,  whilst  professing  not  to  aban- 
don Christianity,  constructed  out  of  the  Scriptures 
a  vaguely  mystical  religion  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
genius  of  the  race.  He  was  reverenced  by  his  people 
with  unquestioning  faith,  as  the  inspired  Prophet, 
the  God-sent  Messiah  of  the  Maori.  His  subtle 
mind,  his  lofty  eloquence,  his  intense  and  earnest 


302  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

patriotism,  gave  him  a  sway  over  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  his  people  that  was  absolutely  unbounded.  No 
Roman  father,  even  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  patria 
potestas  ever  exercised  more  absolute  dominion  over 
his  familia  than  Te  Whiti  over  his  hapu.  And  this 
enormous  influence  was  all  in  the  direction  of  peace. 
No  Quaker  ever  interpreted  more  strictly  the  Gos- 
pel that  commanded  peace  on  earth  or  obeyed  more 
consistently  the  injunction  to  turn  the  cheek  to  the 
smiter.  He  had  declined  to  take  part  in  hostilities 
in  1865  ;  he  restrained  his  people  from  joining  in  the 
outbreak  under  Titokowaru  in  1868 ;  and  through 
all  the  turbulent  years  that  followed  they  had  lived 
at  peace  with  the  pakeha.  And  now,  when  they  saw 
their  lands  invaded  by  surveyors,  and  about  to  be 
sold,  as  they  thought,  in  defiance  of  faith  and 
pledges,  he  commanded  his  people  to  oppose  indeed, 
but  only  to  oppose  with  a  masterly  policy  of  "  passive 
resistance."  The  Maoris  had  been  promised  unmo- 
lested possession  of  not  less  than  one-fourth  of  the 
confiscated  land  on  the  Waimate  Plain.  Yet  the 
Grey  Government  sent  a  Commissioner  on  to  the 
land  with  instructions  to  carry  out  a  sectional  sur- 
vey ;  nothing  was  said  to  the  Maoris  of  any  intention 
to  respect  their  rights  or  to  leave  them  any  portion 
of  their  lands.  On  the  contrary  the  survey-lines 
were  taken  right  through  their  growing  crops;  and 
16,000  acres  of  the  land  were  actually  advertised  for 
sale. 

A  batch  of  Te  Whiti's  followers  pulled  up  the 
survey-pegs,  were  arrested,  and  sent  to  prison. 
More  surveyors  came  and  more  pegs  were  put  in; 
but  more  and  more  bands  of  orderly,  good-tempered, 
but  determined  Maoris  were  forthcoming  to  pull 
them  out  again  and  to  take  their  turn  cheerfully  at 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  303 

going  to  prison.  When  this  had  gone  on  for  some 
time,  Te  Whiti  determined  on  retaliatory  measures: 
he  sent  ploughmen  to  plough  up  the  grass  lands  of 
the  English  settlers.  "  Go,  put  your  hands  to  the 
plough,  and  look  not  back ;  "  such  were  his  instruc- 
tions, "  If  any  come  with  guns  and  swords,  be  not 
afraid.  If  any  smite,  smite  you  not  again.  If  fear 
fill  the  minds  of  the  pakehas  and  they  flee  from  their 
farms  as  in  the  old  war  days,  enter  not  their  houses, 
touch  not  their  goods,  slay  not  their  herds.  My  eye 
is  over  all :  and  the  thief  shall  not  go  scatheless.  I 
will  not  resist  the  soldiers  if  they  come.  I  would 
gladly  let  them  crucify  me !  "  The  ploughmen  went 
to  gaol;  but  more  ploughmen  and  still  more  took 
their  places ;  till  at  length  there  were  400  Maoris 
in  the  prisons  of  the  colony  whose  only  crime  was 
that  they  had  bravely  and  faithfully  obeyed  their 
patriotic  if  fanatical  chief. 

When  the  Grey  Government  went  out  of  office, 
Mr.  John  Bryce  succeeded  Mr.  Sheehan  as  Native 
Minister.  A  Royal  Commission  was  set  up  to  en- 
quire into  the  West  Coast  difficulty.  Its  report  was 
unreservedly  in  favour  of  the  native  claims.  "  The 
disaffection  was  only  the  natural  outcome  of  a  vacil- 
lating and  futile  policy ;  the  trouble  might  have  been 
mastered  at  any  time  if  only  scrupulous^  good  faith 
had  waited  on  steadfast  councils  and  consistent  pur- 
pose." "  The  only  right  way,"  declared  the  Com- 
missioners, "  was  that  the  land,  which  was  rightly 
theirs,  with  their  villages  and  cultivations,  their 
burial  grounds  and  fishing-places,  should  be  sur- 
veyed, marked  off  on  the  ground,  and  handed  to  the 
Maoris  as  their  inalienable  possession."  And  they 
solemnly  warned  the  Government,  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
John  Bright,  that  "  There  is  no  statesmanship  in  mere 


304  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

acts  of  force  and  acts  of  repression."  But  the  Gov- 
ernment were  evidently  determined  not  to  try  the  one 
way  that  was  right,  till  they  had  exhausted  the 
ninety-nine  ways  that  were  wrong.  Mr.  John 
Bryce  was  a  well-meaning,  honest,  and  capable  man ; 
but  his  experiences  in  the  Taranald  War  had  warped 
his  judgment  and  embittered  his  feelings  on  native 
questions.  He  was  a  man,  tco,  of  indomitable  will ; 
and  by  making  acquiescence  in  his  native  policy  a 
condition  of  remaining  in  the  Cabinet,  he  drew  his 
colleagues  with  him  in  a  perilous  course  from  which 
they  vere  ultimately  extricated  more  by  good  luck 
than  good  management. 

That  policy  was  simply  coercion.  The  Commis- 
sioners, Sir  F.  D.  Bell  and  Sir  W.  Fox,  two  of  the 
colony's  best  and  wisest  rulers,  had  declared  that 
Te  Whiti's  claims  were  just  and  his  intentions 
pacific.  But  in  Mr.  Bryce's  eyes  he  was  a  mad 
fanatic  and  dangerous  rebel,  who  must  be  dragooned 
into  submission.  "  The  idea  of  negotiating  with  Te 
Whiti,"  he  declared,  "  is  perfectly  preposterous." 
The  "  outrages  "  at  Parihaka — ploughing  and  peg- 
pulling — still  continued ;  it  is  true  Te  Whiti  made 
no  attempts  to  arm  his  followers  and  none  of  them 
opposed  the  least  resistance  to  arrest.  But  Parlia- 
ment and  people  had  become  nervous.  The  peaceful 
religion  of  Te  Whiti  was  confounded  with  the  bloody 
tenets  of  the  Hau-Haus,  and  the  wholesale  massacre 
of  the  Taranaki  settlers  was  anticipated  with  lively 
terror  by  the  excited  imagination  of  the  ignorant 
public. 

Mr.  Bryce  had  his  way.  A  demonstration  in 
force  was  to  be  made  to  overawe  the  Natives  and 
Te  Whiti  was  to  be  cast  into  prison  and  so  accorded 
the  martyrdom  he  courted.  An  "  army  "  of  1700 


THE  CONTINUOUS  MINISTRY.  3Q5 

Armed  Constabulary  and  citizen-soldiers,  recruited 
from  all  parts  of  the  colony,  was  "  mobilized  "  at 
Parihaka. 

In  the  early  summer  morning  of  November  5th, 
1881,  the  "  army"  marched  on  to  Parihaka;  in  com- 
mand was  Major  Tuke,  a  veteran  of  the  Maori  Wars; 
at  its  head  rode  Mr.  Bryce  on  an  old  white  horse, 
which,  says  an  eye-witness,  looked  as  care-worn  and 
unhappy  as  its  rider.  The  soldiers,  as  they  ap- 
proached the  enemy's  camp,  were  "  straining  on  the 
leash,"  eager  to  cover  themselves  with  glory,  and  re- 
turn, if  they  returned  at  all,  "  dashed  with  drops  of 
onset." 

There  met  them,  at  the  outskirts  of  the  village, 
not  an  horde  of  tattooed  warriors  armed  to  the  teeth, 
dancing  the  wild  haka  and  hurling  words  and  spears 
of  defiance,  but  two  hundred  little  children,  dancing 
with  rhythmic  grace  a  dance  of  welcome,  and  with 
the  most  hearty  confidence  and  good  humour,  laugh- 
ing with  childish  glee  in  the  faces  of  the  red-coated 
strangers !  Behind  them  came  their  mothers  bearing 
five  hundred  loaves  of  bread  which  Te  Whiti  had  bid 
them  bake  to  feed  the  invading  host! 

Mr.  Bryce  did  not  appreciate  either  the  humour 
or  the  pathos  of  the  situation.  He  expected  bullets, 
and  they  gave  him  bread.  He  peremptorily  ordered 
the  men  to  refuse  the  proffered  peace-offering;  and 
proceeding  into  the  village,  which  the  "  army  "  now 
surrounded,  ordered  the  Riot  Act  to  be  read.  It 
had  no  terrors,  even  when  translated,  for  this 
Quakers'  meeting.  Tohu,  Te  Wliiti's  chief  counsel- 
lor, addressed  the  people :  "  Let  the  man  who  has 
raise'd  the  war  do  his  work  this  day.  Be  patient,  O 
my  people,  and  even  if  the  bayonet  comes  to  your 
breast,  resist  not." 

u 


306  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

A  picked  party  of  ninety-five  men,  armed  with  re- 
volvers and  handcuffs,  arrested  the  unresisting  Te 
Whiti  and  Tohu  and  they  were  conveyed  to  the  New 
Plymouth  lock-up.  The  "  army  of  occupation  "  re- 
mained in  Parihaka  for  a  week;  the  whares  were 
searched  for  arms  and  some  two  hundred  guns,  used 
by  the  Maoris  in  pig-hunting,  were  confiscated.  The 
natives  from  other  districts  were  ordered  to  return 
to  their  homes,  and  when  they  refused,  arrested.  Te 
V/hiti  and  Tohu  were  "  tried  "  before  a  local  magis- 
trate, and  committed  to  the  common  gaol  at  New 
Plymouth.  They  were  clothed  in  convict  garb  and 
for  a  time  denied  the  solace  of  their  pipes.  Early 
in  the  New  Year  they  were  taken  to  Christchurch, 
and  there  a  healthier  public  opinion  compelled  the 
Government  to  treat  them  more  humanely.  They 
were  relieved  from  the  monstrous  indignity  of  prison 
clothes ;  were  taken  to  visit  an  Industrial  Exhibition 
then  in  progress,  and  afterwards  sent  on  a  visit  to 
the  Otago  Sounds.  After  sixteen  months  they  were 
restored  to  their  people ;  the  long  promised  reserves 
were  given  to  the  natives;  and  Parihaka  is  now  a 
peaceful  and  prosperous  community.  Thus  did  the 
pitiable  tragedy  of  the  Maori  Wars  conclude  with  an 
equally  pitiable  farce. 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  3Q7 


CHAPTEK  XXIV. 

THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY. 

WITH  the  beginning  of  the  last  decade  of  the  Cen- 
tury, New  Zealand  may  be  said  to  have  entered  on 
a  new  epoch  in  its  history.  Before  this  time,  the 
interests  represented  by  land  and  capital  had  on  the 
whole  the  controlling  voice  in  the  government  of  the 
colony;  now  it  is  labour  that  is  the  "predominant 
partner."  True,  there  were  radicals  in  those  days, 
also.  But  up  till  this  time  the  reins  of  government 
were,  as  we  have  seen,  with  occasional  brief  inter- 
ruptions, in  the  hands  of  Statesmen  of  the  conserva- 
tive, stake-in-the-country  type;  they  have  since  been 
held  by  a  younger,  more  daring,  class  of  men  who 
are  radicals  by  conviction  and  politicians  by  pro- 
fession. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  its  history,  the  Colony  was 
busy  with  the  practical  work  of  pioneer  settlement, 
with  fighting  the  Maori,  with  constitution-making, 
with  the  construction  of  roads,  railways  and  bridges. 
But  by  the  close  of  the  eighties,  these  activities  were 
practically  exhausted.  The  stream  of  immigration 
had  ceased,  the  natives  were  pacified,  the  abolition 
excitement  had  subsided,  the  Public  Works  Policy 
had  been  suspended.  A  time  of  severe  commercial 
depression  followed:  in  the  government  service 
drastic  retrenchment  had  taken  the  place  of  wild  ex- 
travagance; in  the  country,  land,  wood,  and  grain 
Lad  fallen  alarmingly  in  value;  in  the  towns,  wages 


308  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

had  decreased  and  the  unemployed  were  clamouring 
for  bread.  All  this  had  produced  the  "  divine  dis- 
content "  which  is  the  precursor  of  social  change. 
The  public  mind  gave  itself  over  to  political  and 
economic  theorising;  and  we  entered  upon  ten  years 
of  legislative  experiments. 

We  have  seen  that  one  of  the  last  acts  of  the 
"  Continuous  Ministry  "  was  to  place  the  Electoral 
franchise  on  a  manhood  basis,  embodying  the 
principle  of  "  one  man,  one  vote  "  and  cancelling  the 
political  privileges  hitherto  attaching  to  the  owner- 
ship of  property.  The  result  of  the  Franchise  ex- 
tension soon  became  apparent  in  the  elections  of 
December,  1890.  The  old  "  Conservative "  party 
was  swept  from  power  and  the  new  "  Liberal  "  party, 
as  it  likes  to  call  itself,  was  returned  by  the  constitu- 
encies with  an  overwhelming  majority. 

These  names,  Conservative  and  Liberal,  it  should 
be  explained,  are  used  in  New  Zealand  without  much 
regard  to  their  historical  connotation.  The  position 
and  aims  of  the  Liberals  will  perhaps  be  better  un- 
derstood if  we  call  them  the  Progressives  in  the 
sense  that  they  are  more  daring  in  legislative  experi- 
ment, less  hampered  by  constitutional  precedents, 
and  less  tender  for  "  vested  interests  "  than  the  party 
they  succeeded.  They  are  in  fact  Socialistic  Radi- 
cals ;  but  the  name  Progressives  is  that  by  which  the 
Agent-General  for  the  Colony  in  London,  Mr.  W.  P. 
Reeves,  usually  speaks  and  writes  of  them;  and  as 
he  played  no  small  or  unworthy  part  in  formulating 
the  policy  and  establishing  the  popularity  of  the 
party,  he  has  fairly  vindicated  his  claim  to  stand 
sponsor. 

The  party  was  well  led  in  the  Elections  and  well 
organised.  When  the  House  met,  it  was  soon  seen 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  309 

that  the  Progressive  majority  formed  a  somewhat 
heterogeneous  body,  internally  divided  on  several 
side  issues,  of  which  the  Liquor  Question  formed  the 
main  line  of  cleavage.  But  on  the  general  pro- 
gramme they  were  united  and  loyal  to  their  chiefs. 
It  was  a  party  essentially  elected  in  the  interests 
of  the  wage-earning  class;  but  happily  there  was  no 
distinct  "  Labour  "  section ;  nor  has  there  ever  been 
in  New  Zealand  a  "  Labour  Party  "  in  the  sense  of 
a  compact  body  of  workmen-politicians  such  as  in, 
the  other  Australian  Colonies  frequently  constitutes 
a  formidable  parliamentary  unit  and  frequently  con- 
trives to  hold  the  "  balance  of  power."  Many  of  the 
members  were  new  to  political  life ;  they  were  for  the 
most  part  journalists,  lawyers,  traders,  or  small  farm- 
ers: four,  only,  belonged  to  the  artisan  class:  one 
carpenter,  one  brass-founder,  and  two  shoemakers. 
Although  in  subsequent  elections  a  larger  proportion 
of  artisans  have  sometimes  been  returned,  the  wage- 
earners  of  New  Zealand  have  so  far  been  singularly 
reluctant  to  select  representatives  from  their  own 
ranks. 

It  is  of  some  importance  to  consider  briefly  tho 
character  and  abilities  of  the  new  party.  At  ite 
hi  ad  was  Mr.  John  Ballance,  a  journalist,  who  had 
had  considerable  parliamentary  and  some  ministerial 
experience.  He  was  a  Radical  trained  originally  in 
the  school  of  Sir  George  Grey.  A  man  of  great 
capacity  as  an  organiser,  of  unquestioned  sincerity 
of  purpose,  he  possessed  a  gentle,  conciliatory  charni 
of  manner  that  made  him  a  tactful  manager  of  de- 
bate. Mr.  John  MacKenzie  was  a  practical  farmer, 
with  strong  democratic  views  on  land  questions. 
The  training  and  instincts  of  a  Scotch,  and  after- 
wards a  New  Zealand,  shepherd  had  made  him  the 


310  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

inveterate  foe  of  land-monopolists  and  "  dummy  '3 
speculators;  while  his  huge  physique,  keen  intel- 
ligence, and  indomitable  will-power  gave  him  an  in- 
fluence in  the  House  which  occasional  outbursts  of 
fiery  temper  and  raucous  invective  could  only 
slightly  modify.  Mr.  Richard  John  Seddon,  orig- 
inally a  Lancashire  man,  had  won  rich  experience  in 
the  romantic  ups  and  downs  of  life  in  a  mining  set- 
tlement on  the  West  Coast  diggings ;  he  had  sat 
for  fourteen  consecutive  sessions  in  Parliament,  and 
had  already  given  ample  proof  of  those  qualities  of 
head  and  heart  which  have  since  made  him  so  suc- 
cessful as  a  leader  of  men.  Mr.  William  Pember 
Reeves,  son  of  the  proprietor  and  sometime  editor 
of  the  most  influential  radical  newspaper  in  the 
Colony,  had  done  signal  service  to  the  party,  though 
he  had  only  had  three  years  of  actual  Parliamentary 
experience.  A  polished  and  pleasing  speaker,  and  a 
still  more  convincing  writer,  his  eloquent  appeals 
for  a  "  United  Canterbury "  had  resulted  in  our 
great  agricultural  province  returning,  in  each  of  its 
fourteen  constituencies,  members  pledged  to  the  Pro- 
gressive platform.  Mr.  Reeves  had  enjoyed  more 
opportunities  for  culture  than  most  of  his  colleagues. 
He  was  an  ardent  enthusiast  for  education  and  a 
socialist  of  sorts.  Finally,  Mr.  Joseph  George  Ward 
was  an  energetic  business  man  who  had  risen  from 
small  beginnings.  A  suave  and  dapper  manner  and 
appearance  made  him  personally  popular,  while  a 
facile  mastery  of  the  details  of  finance,  little  short 
of  the  Vogelian,  enabled  him  to  make  even  Colonial 
accounts  picturesque  and  to  tickle  the  ears  of  the 
groundlings  even  with  Budgets. 

The  legislative  programme  with  whioh  Mr.  Bal- 
lance  appealed  to  the  electors  may  be  briefly  sum- 


I-HE  NEW  DEMOCRACY. 

mariscd  as  follows.  He  promised  first  and  foremost 
to  adhere  to  a  strictly  non-borrowing  policy.  This 
was  popular  in  the  reaction  against  the  extravagance 
of  the  late  Public  Works  Policy,  to  the  collapse  of 
which  the  commercial  depression  of  the  time  was 
rightly  or  wrongly  attributed.  He  promised  a 
change  in  the  incidence  of  taxation:  The  Property 
Tax  was  unpopular  because  it  taxed  improvements; 
it  was  now  proposed  to  substitute  a  graduated  Land 
and  Income  Tax.  A  "  Land  for  Settlement "  policy 
was  to  be  vigorously  pushed  in  response  to  the  popu- 
lar cry  of  "  people  on  the  land."  Finally,  Labour 
Laws  of  all  sorts  were  to  be  passed  to  solve  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  relations  of  Labour  and  Capital  which 
had  become  acute  throughout  the  Colonies  in  the 
great  maritime  strike  of  1890. 

The  endorsement  of  this  programme  by  the  con- 
stituencies in  the  general  election  was  so  emphatic 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  trend  of  popular  opin- 
ion. We  shall  not  attempt  to  analyse  fully  the 
causes  of  this  change  in  opinion ;  some  of  them  how- 
ever may  be  briefly  suggested.  It  was  the  fashion  of 
the  day  for  adherents  of  the  old  political  party  to 
attribute  their  reverse  to  the  ferment  and  irritation 
left  in  the  minds  of  the  wage-earners  by  the  quixotic 
maritime  strike  which  had  just  ended — for  them  so 
disastrously.  This,  no  doubt,  contributed  to  the  re- 
sult ;  but  it  was  only  one  of  many  causes ;  the  strike 
is  long  since  forgotten  and  the  Progressives  continue 
in  power.  The  "  Continuous "  ministry  was  sus- 
pected of  sympathising  rather  with  the  "  squatter  " 
in  the  country  than  with  the  artisan  in  the  towns; 
the  association  of  some  of  its  leaders  with  banks  and 
loan  and  land-speculating  Companies  had  brought 
them  into  some  discredit.  On  the  other  hand,  Ed- 


312  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ward  Bellamy's  book  had  fascinated  the  uncritical 
imaginations  of  the  artisan  class;  hard  times  had 
filled  them  with  discontent.  In  a  word  the  wage- 
earners  in  New  Zealand  were  at  once  intelligent  and 
educated ;  ambitious  and  discontented.  "  One  man, 
one  vote  "  had  made  them  politically  the  equals  of 
the  wealthiest  land-owner:  they  realised  the  power 
that  had  been  put  into  their  hands,  and  were  deter- 
mined to  use  it. 

The  New  Parliament  met  on  January  24th,  1890, 
and  on  the  following  day  the  Atkinson  Ministry 
resigned  and  Mr.  Ballance  was  called  to  office.  Mr. 
Ballance  himself  became  Premier  and  Colonial 
Treasurer;  Mr.  John  Mackenzie,  Minister  of  Lands 
and  Agriculture ;  Mr.  R.  J.  Seddon,  Minister  of  Pub- 
lic Works,  Mines  and  Defence ;  to  Mr.  W.  P.  Reeves 
fell  the  portfolio  of  Education  and  the  charge  of 
the  Department  of  Labour,  now  for  the  first  time 
set  up;  Mr.  A.  J.  Cadman  became  Commissioner  of 
Stamps  and  soon  after  Native  Minister;  Mr.  J.  G. 
Ward  was  a  member  of  the  Ministry  at  first  without 
portfolio ;  Mr.  James  Carroll,  a  well-educated  and 
completely  Anglicised  half-caste,  was  included  in  the 
Executive  as  "  Native  Member "  to  represent  the 
Maori  race ;  while  Sir  Patrick  Buckley,  with  the 
portfolio  of  Colonial  Secretary  and  Attorney-Gen- 
eral, represented  the  Cabinet  in  the  Upper  Chamber. 
With  but  two  changes  of  importance  in  its  personnel, 
this  Ministry  has  now  ruled  the  colony  for  a  period 
of  ten  years — an  unusually  long  term  for  any  min- 
istry in  the  Australian  Colonies.  The  first  of  these 
changes  was  the  elevation  of  Mr.  R.  J.  Seddon  to  the 
Premiership  in  1893  consequent  on  the  death  of  Mr. 
John  Ballance;  the  second  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
W.  P.  Reeves  consequent  on  his  appointment  to  the 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  313 

office  of  Agent-General  for  the  Colony  in  London. 
The  Ministry  has  successfully  weathered  the  storms 
of  three  general  elections,*  and  though  in  the  '96- 
'99  Parliament  the  working  majority  of  the  Ministry 
was  reduced  to  five  or  six,  and  the  Opposition  began 
to  entertain  hopes  of  a  turn  in  the  tide  of  public 
opinion,  the  elections  of  1899  resulted  in  a  triumph 
for  the  Progressives  even  more  marked  than  the 
victory  of  1890  which  first  called  them  to  power.  In 
the  Upper  Chamber,  to  which  members  are  nomi- 
nated by  the  Ministry  of  the  day,  the  Ballance  ad- 
ministration could  at  first  count  only  on  from  four 
to  six  votes  in  a  House  of  forty-six.  But  as  nomina- 
tions during  the  last  nine  years  have  naturally  been 
from  the  ranks  of  the  Progressive  party,  sides  are 
now  about  evenly  matched  in  the  revisory  branch  of 
the  legislature.  As  a  result  of  the  last  general  elec- 
tions the  old  "  Conservative  "  party  has  received  its 
quietus;  and  he  would  be  a  daring  prophet  indeed 
who  should  profess  to  foretell  with  confidence  the 
end  of  the  New  Democracy  in  New  Zealand. 

In  one  important  particular  the  Seddon  Ministry 
has  deviated  from  the  policy  propounded  by  Mr. 
Ballance.  The  "  Non-Borrowing  "  part  of  his  pro- 
gramme has  been  abandoned ;  the  public  debt  of  the 
Colony  has  increased  since  the  Progressives  took  office 
by  over  seven  millions. f  In  other  particulars,  how- 
ever, the  Ministry  may  fairly  claim  to  have  carried 
into  effect  the  programme  of  radical  legislative  re- 
forms to  which  they  pledged  themselves.  In  the  re- 
maining pages  of  this  chapter  we  propose  to  set  out 

*  The  strength  of  the  Progressives  in  a  House  of  74  mem- 
bers was  as  follows  in  the  four  elections  :  1890,  38  ;  1893,  50 ; 
1896,  38  ;  1899,  52. 

f  Public  Debt,  March  31st,  1890,  £38,667,950 ;  1899,  £46,- 
081,327. 


814:      PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

briefly  the  salient  features  in  the  administration 
of  the  Progressive  party  and  the  chief  legis- 
lative changes  it  has  introduced.  Two  depart- 
ments of  its  administration  and  legislation  will 
however  be  more  conveniently  reserved  for  separate 
chapters:  "  The  Agrarian  Legislation  and  Lands  Ad- 
ministration ;"  and  the  "  Labour  Laws,"  forming  a 
distinct  body  of  legislation  which  possesses  many 
features  of  extra-colonial  interest. 

The  Ballance  Ministry  was  pledged,  as  we  have 
stated,  to  change  the  incidence  of  direct  taxation. 
The  proportion  of  the  annual  revenue  of  the  colony 
•which  is  raised  in  this  way  (from  25  to  30  per  cent 
of  the  whole)  was,  before  1892,  obtained  in  the  main 
from  a  Property  Tax  of  one  penny  in  the  £  on  all 
assessed  real  and  personal  property,  with  an  exemp- 
tion up  to  £500.  The  main  objection  urged  against 
this  fiscal  system  was  that  it  taxed  improvements  and 
so  discouraged  settlement  and  enterprise.  The 
people  had  demanded  a  taxation  system  which  should 
effect  certain  social  as  well  as  revenue  purposes :  they 
wanted  a  "  graduated  tax "  which  should  have  the 
effect  of  penalising  accumulation  and,  as  the  popular 
phrase  expressed  it,  "  bursting  up  "  large  estates ; 
they  wanted  a  tax  moreover  which  should  specifically 
encourage  the  improving  land-occupier  and  as  em- 
phatically discourage  the  absentee  land-speculator. 

Accordingly  in  1891  a  "  Land  and  Income  Tax 
Assessment  Act "  was  passed,  and  the  new  tax  came 
into  force  the  following  year.  As  subsequently 
amended,  the  system  is  as  follows.  There  is  first  of 
all  an  "  Ordinary  Land  Tax  "  of  one  penny  in  the 
£  on  the  actual  "  prairie  "  value  of  land,  all  "  im- 
provements "  whatever  being  exempt  from  liability. 
Any  sum  owing  on  a  duly  registered  mortgage  over 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  315 

the  land  is  also  deducted — the  mortgagee  himself  be- 
ing subject  to  land  tax.  There  is  besides  a  "  Grad- 
uated Land  Tax "  on  all  land  whose  unimproved 
value  reaches  £5,000.  In  addition  to  the  one  penny 
in  the  £  levied  by  the  "  ordinary  tax  "  an  additional 
one-eighth  penny  is  levied  when  the  value  is  between 
£5,000  and  £10,000;  and  the  rate  increases  by  fur- 
ther steps  of  one-eighth  penny  in  the  £  till  the  max- 
imum of  2d.  in  the  £  is  reached,  payable  when  the 
value  is  £210,000.  The  Income  Tax  is  6d.  in  the  £ 
on  incomes  up  to  £1000  and  after  that  Is.  in  the  £. 
To  encourage  the  "  small  man  "  there  is,  in  the  case 
of  the  Land  Tax,  an  exemption  of  £500  when  the 
taxable  value  does  not  exceed  £1,500;  after  that  a 
smaller  exemption  is  granted  till  it  ceases  at  £2,500 ; 
in  the  case  of  the  Income  Tax  there  is  an  exemption 
up  to  £300  per  annum,  and  the  same  amount  is 
deducted  from  all  taxable  incomes.  To  encourage 
thrift,  any  amount  paid  in  Life  Assurance  premiums 
up  to  £50  is  exempt  from  taxation.  With  a  view 
to  discourage  "  absentees "  twenty  per  cent  addi- 
tional land  tax  is  levied  where  the  owner  has  been 
absent  from  the  colony  for  three  years  or  more  be- 
fore the  assessment;  while  the  £300  exemption  under 
the  Income  Tax  is  disallowed  in  the  case  of  all  per- 
sons not  domiciled  in  the  Colony.  The  average 
amount  of  taxation  from  all  sources  levied  per  head 
of  population  in  New  Zealand  if?  £3  13s.  lid — an 
amount  higher  than  that  in  any  of  the  Australian 
Colonies,  with  the  exception  of  Western  Australia. 

Much  opposition  was  naturally  shown  to  this 
change  in  fiscal  policy.  But  after  seven  years'  ex- 
perience of  the  measure,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  evil  results  predicted  for  it  have  not  been  veri- 
fied. There  has  not  been  the  shrinkage  foretold 


316  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

in  revenue;  the  pastor.il  and  agricultural  interests 
have  not  been  irretrievably  ruined;  and  the 
"  screw  "  has  not  yet  been  given  that  "  extra  turn  " 
so  vividly  prophesied  by  opponents  of  the  graduating 
principle.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  doubtful  if  the 
measure  has  in  itself  contributed  largely  to  the 
"  bursting  up  "  of  estates  in  the  Colony.* 

The  extension  of  the  Electoral  Franchise  to 
women  was  effected  in  1893.  Curiously  enough, 
however,  it  was  not  the  Progressive  party,  but  the 
old  "  Conservatives "  led  by  Sir  John  Hall  who 
were  chiefly  responsible  for  this  innovation.  Many 
of  the  leading  men  among  the  Progressives  were 
strongly  opposed  to  the  measure;  and  it  was  freely 
asserted  that  the  Premier,  Mr.  Seddon,  allowed  the 
Bill  finally  to  pass  the  Lower  House  only  because 
he  was  confident  it  would  be  rejected  in  the  Upper. 
That  Chamber,  however,  to  the  surprise  of  every 
one,  passed  the  Bill  by  the  narrow  majority 
of  two  on  September  2nd,  1893.  The  "Con- 
servative "  advocates  of  the  measure  were  pop- 
ularly supposed  to  favour  the  Bill  because  they 
believed  it  would  result  in  an  accession  of 
strength  to  their  party ;  the  Progressives  who  opposed 
it  were  similarly  charged  with  fearing  that  it  would 
result  in  their  exclusion  from  oiHce.  Both  state- 
ments contain,  perhaps,  a  modicum  of  truth;  but 
neither  fairly  and  fully  represents  the  position. 
The  franchise  was  not  conferred  on  women  in  New 
Zealand  as  the  result  of  a  political  game  clumsily 
played  by  political  blunderers;  the  measure  was 

*  The  present  writer  must  in  fairness  admit  that  he  shared 
himself  these  gloomy  forebodings  •  and  criticised  adversely 
both  the  taxation  proposals  and  the  Labour  measures  in  the 
Ballance  Programme,  in  a  pamphlet  "  The  Man  and  the  State 
in  New  Zealand,"  Christchurch  "Press"  Company,  1891. 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  317 

passed  because  it  was  considered  a  fair  and  logical 
act  of  justice.  It  is  true  the  advocates  of  the  meas- 
ure if  ardent  were  few;  the  great  majority  of  the 
women  of  the  colony  were  themselves  indifferent 
to  the  agitation ;  but  the  case  against  women  was  not 
strong  enough  logically  to  rouse  more  than  spasmodic 
opposition;  and  as  far  as  the  great  body  of  public 
opinion  was  concerned,  judgment  went  "  by  default." 

The  Act  left  our  Electoral  machinery  where  it 
was,  with  the  single  significant  change  of  the  word 
man  to  person.  The  qualifications  for  the  exercise 
of  the  franchise  became  the  same  for  both  sexes. 

Since  the  passing  of  the  Act  three  elections  have 
been  held  in  the  colony  under  Universal  Suffrage. 
Taking  the  figures  for  the  first  two  of  these — the 
elections  of  1893  and  1896  (those  for  1899  are  not 
available  at  the  time  of  writing) — we  find  the  fol- 
lowing results.  The  proportion  of  males  on  the  rolls 
who  voted  was  70  per  cent  in  1893  and  76  per  cent 
in  1896;  the  proportion  of  females  on  the  rolls  who 
voted  was  respectively  85  and  76.  Thus  it  is  clear 
that  of  the  women  who  register  a  larger  proportion 
go  to  the  poll  than  in  the  case  of  men.  The  actual 
numbers  of  women  who  registered  their  claims  to 
vote  were  respectively  78  and  89  per  cent  of  the  es- 
timated adult  female  population.  However  indif- 
ferent women  inay  have  been  to  the  acquisition  of 
the  new  privilege,  it  is  evident  they  are  not  apathetic 
about  the  exercise  of  it.  It  is  unfortunately  im- 
possible to  compare  these  figures  with  the  figures  in 
the  case  of  males.  Statistics  are  proverbially  infal- 
lible. But  in  1896  we  find  that  of  the  total  esti- 
mated adult  male  population  99  and  96  per  cent 
are  on  the  rolls;  while  in  1893  the  number  of  male 
names  on  the  rolls  actually  exceeds  the  estimated 


318  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

number  of  males  in  the  Colony  by  fourteen  thousand. 
Unless  we  conclude  that  in  their  enthusiasm  for 
politics  14,000  "  travellers  returned  "  from  beyond 
the  bourne  to  exercise  the  privilege  of  citizenship,  we 
must  reluctantly  acknowledge  that  even  in  New  Zea- 
land figures  occasionally  lie. 

The  experiment  of  allowing  women  an  equal 
voice  with  men  in  the  government  of  the  country 
has  now  been  in  operation  in  New  Zealand  for  seven 
years,  and  they  have  exercised  their  new-won  privi- 
lege in  three  general  elections.  It  should  therefore 
be  possible  to  form  a  fairly  just  estimate  of  their 
fitness  for  these  duties.  Political  meteorology  is,  in 
New  Zealand,  a  more  than  usually  inexact  science; 
and  the  forecasts  of  opponents  and  advocates  of  this 
reform  have  alike  been  falsified  by  events.  Advo- 
cates claimed  that  it  would  strengthen  the  elements 
of  stability  and  conservatism  in  politics;  that  it 
would  elevate  the  tone  of  public  opinion  and  lead 
to  a  higher  moral  standard  being  required  of 
aspirants  for  parliamentary  honours.  Opponents 
declared  that  women  did  not  want  the  franchise,  and, 
if  they  obtained  it,  would  not  use  it ;  and,  with  doubt- 
ful consistency,  they  roundly  asserted  that  it  would 
"  unsex  "  them.  Temperance  enthusiasts  believed  it 
would  lead  to  the  victory  of  "  Prohibition."  Educa- 
tional enthusiasts  feared  it  would  result  in  the  break- 
down of  that  system  of  secular  education  of  which 
we  are  so  proud  and  so  tenacious.  Yet  not  a  single 
one  of  these  predictions  has  so  far  been  verified; 
results  on  the  contrary  point  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. The  radical  vote  at  elections  is  stronger  than 
ever;  the  tone  of  public  opinion  has  not  improved; 
and  the  personnel  of  our  Parliament  offers  no  evi- 
dence that  women  demand  in  the  candidates  they 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  319 

vote  for  a  higher  moral  standard  than  do  men. 
Notorious  profligacy  and  habitual  drunkenness  did 
not  in  the  last  election  prove  an  insuperable  obstacle 
to  admission  to  Parliamentary  life.  An  experienced 
politician  who  has  sat  for  many  years  in  our  legisla- 
ture, and  who  himself  voted  for  the  Women's  Fran- 
chise Bill,  recently  expressed  the  opinion  that  "  In 
point  of  ability,  education,  and,  experience  the  pres- 
ent parliament  has  sadly  declined,  whilst  the  general 
tone  of  political  life  is  much  lower  than  it  ever  was 
before."  *  It  is  not  intended  to  suggest  that  this 
is  the  result  of  the  Women's  Franchise,  of  course; 
it  is  advanced  merely  to  show  that  the  hopes  built 
on  the  passing  of  the  measure  have,  so  far  at  least, 
not  been  fulfilled. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  franchise  has  not  "  un- 
eexed  "  women.  The  women  of  New  Zealand  ex- 
hibit in  the  exercise  of  their  political  rights  the  same 
moderation  and  good  sense  that  they  display  in  other 
walks  of  life.  Election  day  is  marked  everywhere 
by  decent  and  decorous  behaviour.  As  we  have 
seen,  women  go  to  the  polls  at  least  as  readily  as 
men  and  there  is  no  sign  anywhere  of  the  presence 
of  "  Shrieking  sisterhoods "  in  our  elections.  A 
distinct  diminution  in  hustings  rowdyism  has  cer- 
tainly shown  itself ;  but  this  is  probably  due  as  much 
to  the  compulsory  closing  of  drink-bars  on  election 
day  as  to  anything  else.  "  Prohibition,"  it  is  true, 
is  steadily  increasing  its  aggregate  vote  in  most  of 
the  constituencies ;  but  the  veto  has  only  been  carried 
so  far  in  one  out  of  the  sixty-two  electoral  districts 
in  the  Colony.  The  advocacy  of  "  The  Bible  in 
Schools,"  which  is  popularly  feared  as  the  thin  edge 

*  Hon.  J.  MacGregor,  M.L.C.,  in  the  National  Review,  October, 
1899. 


320  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

of  the  wedge  of  Denominationalism  in  education, 
has  within  the  last  seven  years  disappeared  from 
practical  politics;  so  that  upon  this  question,  also, 
the  women's  vote  has  not  had  the  anticipated  influ- 
ence. At  the  last  general  election  scarcely  a  single 
candidate  was  found  who  would  pledge  himself  to 
this  change.  Religion^  in  fact,  plays  no  greater 
part  in  politics  after  than  before  the  extension  of 
the  franchise  to  women.  On  the  other  hand,  women 
in  New  Zealand,  seem  even  more  smitten  than  men 
with  that  pestilent  political  fallacy  embodied  in  the 
popular  maxim,  "  Measures,  not  men." 

Though  women  have  obtained  the  right  to  vote 
they  have  not  yet  established  their  right  to  be  them- 
selves elected ;  they  are  expressly  excluded  from  both 
Houses  of  Parliament.  This  restriction  may  be 
expedient,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  recognise  its  logic. 
It  may  be  well  that  they  should  first  gain  some  ex- 
perience of  politics  as  electors  before  they  are  al- 
lowed themselves  to  take  an  active  part  as  the  elect. 
But,  since  the  learned  professions  of  law,  medicine, 
and  journalism  are  open  to  women  in  New  Zealand 
equally  with  men,  it  seems  strangely  inconsistent 
that  politics,  which  is  in  this  colony  a  lucrative, 
though  not,  perhaps,  a  learned  profession,  should  be 
the  only  one  barred  against  them. 

In  striking  contrast  to  the  perfervid  energy  with 
which  New  Zealanders  throw  themselves  into  gen- 
eral politics  is  their  apathetic  indifference  to  all 
matters  municipal.  While  in  our  political  institu- 
tions we  are  in  many  respects  far  in  advance  of  older 
countries,  in  our  municipal  we  are  as  distinctly  be- 
hind them.  The  enlightened  municipal  spirit  which 
is  so  marked  a  feature  of  life  in  England  and  Amer- 
ica has  not  yet  found  an  echo  in  the  colony.  Oar 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  321 

municipal  institutions  are  dominated  by  the  nar- 
rowest spirit  of  parochialism.  Street  lighting, 
street  traction  and  water  supply  are  left  for  the  most 
part  to  private  enterprise  in  a  country  where  the 
Railway,  Postal,  and  Telegraph  services  are  na- 
tionalised, and  where  the  government  undertakes 
even  the  insurance  of  life  and  the  administration 
of  property.  Sanitation  is  left  to  the  whim  of  mu- 
nicipal caprice ;  street  architecture  and  even  fire-pre- 
vention are  matters  frequently  left  to  take  care  of 
themselves ;  and  the  most  important  duty  undertaken 
by  Borough  Councils  in  New  Zealand  seems  to  be 
the  formation  of  exceedingly  bad  roads. 

The  present  Government  has  recently  passed  an 
Act  enabling  local  bodies  to  levy  rates  on  unim- 
proved values  at  the  option  of  the  majority  of  the 
ratepayers  in  the  district ;  but  the  scope  of  the  meas- 
ure is  neither  understood  nor  appreciated.  More 
recently  the  Municipal  Franchise  in  towns  has  been 
extended.  The  right  to  vote  in  borough  elections, 
formerly  confined  to  ratepayers,  has  now  *  been  con- 
ferred upon  all  occupiers,  with  the  important  safe- 
guard, however,  that  on  the  question  of  raising  loans, 
or  the  expenditure  of  loan  moneys,  ratepayers  alone 
can  vote.  But  there  seems  little  disposition  so  far 
to  take  advantage  of  the  new  privilege ;  the  registra- 
tion of  non-ratepayers  under  the  new  act  has  been 
extremely  tardy.  The  Colony  has  yet  to  be 
awakened  to  the  need  of  vigorous  municipal  life,  and 
the  extension  of  the  municipal  franchise  has  pre- 
ceded by  several  years  an  active  demand  for  it. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Ballance  Administra- 
tion was  to  set  up  a  new  State  Department  known 

*  Municipal  Franchise  Reform  Act,  1898. 
V 


322  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

as  the  Department  of  Labour.  The  object  of  its 
existence  is  to  collect  and  disseminate  information 
and  statistics  on  labour  questions;  to  supervise  and 
regulate  the  distribution  of  surplus  labour  in  the 
various  districts  of  the  colony;  and  to  provide  state- 
employment  for  the  unemployed.  To  effect  these 
ends  it  issues  a  monthly  "  Journal  of  the  Department 
of  Labour ;"  and  it  has  set  up  a  Government  Labour 
Bureau,  a  sort  of  State  Registry  Office,  which  has 
done  much  useful  work  in  dealing  with  the  unem- 
ployed difficulty,  when  it  arises,  by  shifting  surplus 
labour,  at  government  expense,  from  congested  dis- 
tricts to  parts  where  labour  is  in  greater  demand. 
But  the  most  interesting  of  the  experiments  con- 
ducted by  the  New  Department  is  the  institution 
known  as  Co-operative  Labour  on  Public  Works. 
The  main  ends  aimed  at  in  this  experiment  were 
the  exclusion  of  the  "  Middleman  "  in  Public  Works 
Contracts,  and  the  providing  of  channels  into  which 
the  Labour  Bureau  might  turn  the  stream  of  surplus 
labour  for  which  it  has  made  itself  paternally  re- 
sponsible. For  whatever  views  politicians  may  hold 
on  "  the  rights  of  man  "  in  the  abstract,  both  the 
present  government  and  its  predecessors  have  in 
practice  admitted  as  one  of  them  the  Eight  to  Em- 
ployment. The  system  of  letting  out  public  works 
by  tender  to  contractors  had  many  disadvantages. 
It  was  probably,  on  the  whole,  sound  and  economical 
in  a  business  point  of  view ;  but  in  spite  of  "  Truck 
Acts  "  and  "  Workmen's  Lien  Acts  "  sub-contractors 
frequently  "  sweated "  the  men  and  occasionally 
bilked  them.  The  letting  of  a  large  public  contract 
in  a  district  resulted  not  seldom  in  the  congestion  of 
the  labour  market  there ;  the  contractor  made  a  com- 
petency, and  the  surplus  labourers  became  a  burden 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  333 

on  public  charity.  Under  the  Co-operative  System 
the  work  is  let  directly  to  the  men;  they  are  paid 
only  for  work  actually  done  by  them;  and  their 
emoluments  depend  solely  on  their  individual  skill 
and  energy.  The  proverbial  "government  stroke," 
as  in  popular  parlance  we  describe  the  half-hearted 
labour  of  the  State-employe,  is  not  seen  on  a  Co- 
operative Contract.  In  proportion  to  the  workman's 
industry  is  his  pay;  he  is  himself  contractor  as  well 
as  labourer,  and  his  toil  acquires  a  new  dignity  in 
his  eyes. 

The  system  was  first  introduced  on  road  and  rail- 
way works ;  and  its  operation  may  be  best  explained 
by  taking  a  railway  contract  as  a  typical  illustration. 
The  government  engineer  divides  the  "formation"' 
into  lengths  proportioned  to  the  difficulty  of  the 
"  country" ;  he  then  "  measures  up  "  the  amount  of 
excavation  and  filling  to  be  done  on  a  given  length 
and  prepares  a  set  of  simple  specifications.  He 
assesses  the  price  of  the  work,  basing  his  figures  on 
the  average  rate  of  wages  current  in  the  district, 
with  a  small  percentage  added  to  represent  in  some 
measure  the  profits  a  contractor  would  make  in  the 
ordinary  way.  These  specifications  and  calcula- 
tions of  cost,  when  approved  by  the  engineer  in  chief, 
form  the  basis  of  a  contract.  A  voluntary  associa- 
tion of  labourers,  seldom  exceeding  ten  or  twelve  in 
number,  and  probably  averaging  six,  then  undertake 
the  job.  They  elect  a  "  head  man "  to  represent 
them  in  their  dealings  with  the  government.  The 
department  supplies  trucks,  rails,  barrows  and  ex- 
pensive plant  generally;  the  men  themselves  find 
picks  and  shovels,  and,  where  necessary,  hire  horses 
and  dravs  from  settlers  in  the  vicinity.  The  prices 
assessed  by  the  engineers  are  not  binding  on  either 


324  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

party;  they  are  mere  estimates.  Work  actually 
done  is  paid  for ;  and  this  is  measured  once  a  month. 
The  engineer's  report  shows  the  number  of  men  em- 
ployed, days  and  hours  worked  by  each,  and  net 
wages  earned.  If  the  engineer  finds  that  satisfac- 
tory progress  is  not  being  made,  he  has  it  in  his  power 
to  draft  additional  men  into  the  party,  to  weed  out 
sluggards  and  incapables,  and,  if  he  think  necessary, 
to  terminate  the  contract.  In  selecting  men  for  the 
works  the  Labour  Bureau  gives  preference  to  mar- 
ried men  over  single,  to  residents  in  the  district  over 
non-residents,  and  to  men  not  previously  employed 
on  government  works  over  men  who  have  recently 
been  on  a  contract.* 

The  system  has  gradually  been  extended  to  skilled 
trades ;  the  building  of  timber  bridges,  plate-laying, 
and  even  the  erection  of  public  buildings  such  as  the 
Parliamentary  Library  in  Wellington  have  been  car- 
ried out  on  Co-operative  principles.  Sometimes  as 
many  as  2000  to  3000  men  are  employed  in  this 
way ;  in  prosperous  seasons,  when  the  surplus  labour 
difficulty  does  not  present  itself,  the  number  is  con- 
siderably less. 

The  system,  as  might  be  expected,  is  severely 
criticised  by  individualists  who  are  sceptical  of  the 
qualifications  of  the  State  as  an  industrial  employer. 
Its  success  will  evidently  largely  depend  on  the  judg- 
ment and  probity  of  the  men  selected  as  government 
engineers ;  and  there  is  ground  for  believing  that  the 
wages  earned  on  Co-operative  contracts  have  oc- 
casionally been  absurdly  high  and  the  work,  accord- 
ingly, exceedingly  costly  to  the  State.  The  whole 
system  might  easily  be  prostituted  to  political  ends 

*  "  The  Co-operative  System  of  Constructing  Public  Works," 
by  H.  J.  H.  Blow,  Under-Secretary  for  Public  Works. 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  325 

by  swamping  doubtful  electorates  with  co-operative 
labourers  three  months  before  a  general  election  and 
so  enabling  a  body  of  men  who  would  regard  them- 
selves as  practically  government  pensioners  to  reg- 
ister in  the  constituency.  That  the  opportunity 
exists  for  this  form  of  political  corruption  is  un- 
doubtedly a  real  danger  in  the  system.  But  it  would 
be  rash  to  assert,  on  no  better  evidence  than  the 
speeches  of  party  politicians,  that  the  opportunity 
has  been  made  use  of.  The  large  majorities  by 
which  the  Progressive  party  have  been  repeatedly 
returned  to  power  should,  at  least  so  far,  have  saved 
them  from  temptation. 

The  years  1891-95  were  prolific  in  experimental 
legislation,  and  the  Statute  Book  of  the  colony 
"  swelled  visibly."  Then  came  three  lean  years. 
In  the  last  session  of  its  third  Parliament,  however, 
the  Seddon  Ministry,  with  an  election  presently  to 
be  faced,  again  bestirred  itself  and  succeeded  in 
passing  an  Act  of  great  local  moment  and  of  con- 
siderable interest  also  to  students  of  social  problems 
outside  the  colony — the  Old  Age  Pension  Act. 

The  movement  in  favour  of  an  old  age  pension 
system  is  of  very  recent  origin  in  the  colony.  Ex- 
cept in  the  occasional  speech  of  a  doctrinaire  social- 
ist, it  was  practically  unheard  of  before  1895.  In 
IS 9 6  it  first  came  before  Parliament  in  the  shape  of 
an  exceedingly  crude  bill.  This  was  killed  in  Com- 
mittee by  an  amendment  in  favour  of  a  universal 
pension.  In  1897,  after  a  general  election,  the  Bill 
re-appeared  in  an  amended  form;  it  passed  the 
Lower  but  was  rejected  by  the  Upper  Chamber.  In 
1898  the  Government  again  brought  down  a  bill; 
again  it  was  a  crude  and  ill-digested  measure;  but 
thanks  to  the  united  efforts  of  opponents  and  advo- 


326  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

cates  alike,  who  debated  the  Bill  through  a  Continu- 
ous Committee  sitting  of  ninety  hours,  the  Bill 
finally  passed  the  Lower  House;  in  the  Upper 
Chamber  it  had  this  time  a  comparatively  easy  pas- 
sage, the  Speaker  having  ruled  that  it  was  a  money 
Bill  and  so  could  not  be  amended.  Thus,  within  the 
short  space  of  three  years  from  the  first  appearance 
of  the  question  in  practical  politics,  this  important 
measure,  which  commits  the  colony  to  a  new  and 
far-reaching  social  principle,  was  placed  on  the 
Statute  Book.  In  England  such  a  law  would  have 
been  preceded  by  ten,  perhaps  by  twenty  years,  of 
debate,  popular  and  academic,  inside  and  outside 
Parliament.  In  young  New  Zealand  we  are  in  such 
matters  more  expeditious,  or — shall  we  say? — more 
rash,  It  is  certain  that  we  legislate  in  haste;  but 
our  prosperity  has  so  far,  happily,  denied  us  leisure 
to  repent. 

The  Act  is,  in  its  present  shape,  purely  experi- 
mental; and  a9  such  it  must  be  regarded.  It  re- 
mains in  force  only  till  the  close  of  the  second  ses- 
sion of  the  present  Parliament,  that  is,  till  the  mid- 
dle of  1900.  The  whole  question,  must  then  be  re- 
considered; and  Parliament,  with  three  years'  expe- 
rience of  the  working  of  the  measure,  will  have  to 
decide  whether  it  will  alter,  continue  or  repeal  the 
Act.  But  as  the  people  of  the  colony  have  in  the 
elections  of  1899 — indeed  since  the  Bill  came  into 
operation — expressed  their  emphatic  approval  of  the 
principle,  it  is  safe  to  assert  that  an  old  age  Pension 
Law,  in  some  form,  has  come  to  stay. 

The  Act  provides  for  the  payment  of  a  pension  of 
£18  a  year  to  every  !N"ew  Zealander  who  has  reached 
the  age  of  sixty-five,  and  can  prove  that  he  conforms 
to  certain  conditions  as  to  residence  in  the  colony, 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY.  327 

financial  position,  and  moral  character.  As  to  the 
first,  he  must  have  resided  in  the  colony  for  a  period 
of  25  years.  No  alien,  however  long  resident,  no 
foreigner  unless  naturalised  for  five  years,  and  no 
Chinese  or  Asiatics  under  any  circumstances,  are 
entitled.  As  to  the  second  point,  the  applicant  must 
prove  that  his  yearly  income,  from  whatever  source, 
does  not  exceed  £34,  in  order  to  entitle  him  to  a 
full  pension,  and  that  it  does  not  exceed  £52  to  en- 
title him  to  any  fraction  of  a  pension.  For  every 
pound  of  income  between  £34  and  £52,  one  pound 
is  deducted  from  the  full  pension  of  £18.  As  to  ac- 
cumulated property  he  may  own  up  to  £50 — after 
deducting  debts — and  yet  be  entitled  to  a  full  pen- 
sion. For  every  £15  above  £50  the  sum  of  one 
pound  is  deducted  from  the  pension ;  so  that  when 
the  property  reaches  an  assessed  value  of  £325  he 
becomes  disentitled  altogether.  Men  and  women  are 
equally  entitled,  and  where  a  man  and  wife  are  living 
together  their  property  or  income  is  divided  by  two 
for  the  purpose  of  the  assessment  above  mentioned. 
Thus  they  may  have  an  income  of  £68  or  a  property 
worth  £650  and  yet  draw  £36  per  annum  from  the 
State.  A  bachelor  of  65,  for  example,  with  this  in- 
come or  amount  of  property  has  no  claim  on  the 
State;  if,  however,  he  marry  a  penniless  spinster  of 
the  same  age  she  virtually  brings  him  a  dowry  of 
£36  per  annum.  This  encouragement  of  sexagena- 
rian matrimony  was  possibly  not  present  to  tihe 
minds  of  the  framers  of  the  Bill. 

As  to  the  third  point — the  moral  character  of  the 
applicant — the  following  restrictions  are  contained 
in  the  Act.  Imprisonment  for  4  months  within  12 
years  preceding,  or  for  5  years  within  25  years  pre- 
ceding, for  any  offence  "  dishonouring  him  in  the 


328  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

public  estimation,"  will  exclude  an  applicant.  De- 
serting husband  or  wife  for  six  months  is  equally  a 
bar :  and  the  applicant  must  prove  that  he  is  of  good 
character  and  has  for  five  years  preceding  been  lead- 
ing "  a  sober  and  respectable  life."  It  cannot  be 
pretended  that  these  rough  and  ready  restrictions 
will  enable  the  State  to  decide  between  the  deserving 
and  the  undeserving  poor ;  much  fraud  will  probably 
creep  into  the  administration  of  the  Act;  and  it 
will  not  be  possible  to  discriminate  between  poverty 
due  to  thriftless  idleness,  and  poverty  the  result  of 
unmerited  misfortune.  But  the  restrictions  repre- 
sent at  least  a  crude  attempt  in  this  direction  and  are 
at  least  a  guarantee  that  the  pension  will  not  be 
conferred  on  criminals,  habitual  drunkards  or  wife- 
deserters. 

!N"o  pension  system,  short  of  a  universal  scheme 
that  confers  its  benefits  without  enquiry  as  to  the 
means  of  the  recipients,  can  avoid  altogether  inflict- 
ing a  stigma  on  pensioners.  The  present  pension 
Bill  is  really  only  a  new  form  of  Poor  Law ;  and  the 
conditions  attached  to  receiving  the  pension  will, 
by  many,  be  considered  degrading.  An  applicant 
for  a  pension  Certificate,  if  his  claim  is  contested, 
has  to  vindicate  it  in  a  police  magistrate's  court,  and 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  newspapers  from  giving 
his  case  as  much  publicity  as  if  he  were  charged  with 
criminal  conduct.  At  present  the  Act  is  in  great 
favour  with  the  aged  poor;  still  more  perhaps  with 
their  children  and  relatives  who  are  relieved  to  the 
extent  of  the  pension  from  the  filial  dutv  of  support- 
ing them;  but  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that  in  time  as 
strong  a  prejudice  may  grow  up  against  the  publicity 
attached  to  the  grant  of  a  pension  as  exists  already 
in  regard  to  other  forms  of  charitable  aid. 


THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  329 

So  far,  the  scheme  is  a  financial  leap  in  the  dark  ;* 
no  special  provision  has  been  made  for  raising  the 
money  required  and  the  pensions  are  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  ordinary  consolidated  revenue.  Till  special 
funds  are  ear-marked  for  the  pension  system  it  •frill 
be  a  recurrent  bone  of  contention  in  every  financial 
debate  in  Parliament,  and  its  continuance  might 
easily  be  jeopardised  by  an  acute  financial  crisis. 
On  the  other  hand  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  alter- 
native schemes  proposed  by  opponents  of  this  Bill 
are  free  from  objection.  A  Universal  Pension  presents 
financial  difficulties  that  are  well-nigh  insuperable; 
and  the  various  contributory  schemes  proposed  are 
too  cumbersome  to  be  likely  to  gain  in  favour.  The 
practical  tests  of  success  that  must  ultimately  be  ap- 
plied to  the  present  scheme  are :  To  what  extent  has 
it  lightened  the  expenditure  on  charitable  aid?  And 
with  what  success  have  its  administrators  excluded 
fraud  and  imposture?  The  political  economist's  ob- 
jection that  the  Bill  will  discourage  thrift  and  self- 
reliance  need  not  be  seriously  regarded  with  the  pen- 
sion at  its  present  low  figure.  "  Thrift,"  in  the 
case  of  a  man  who  has  to  support  a  wife  and  bring 
up  a  family  on  thirty  shillings  a  week  in  this  colony, 
is  perilously  near  passing  from  a  virtue  into  a  vice ; 
for  saving  in  such  circumstances  can  only  be  ef- 
fected at  the  expense  of  the  children's  future.  It 
is  probably  safe  to  say  that  "with  a  large  class  of 
the  poor,  the  prospect  of  this  pension  will,  in  truth, 
be  a  very  strong  inducement  to  lay  by  a  fair  sum,  or 
to  continue  even  after  sixty-five,  to  earn  some  slight 


*  The  Act  came  into  force  Nov.  1st.  1898.  Up  till  Mar.  31st, 
1899,  the  number  of  pensions  granted  was  7487,  involving 
yearly  £128,082. 


330  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

wage  which,  supplementing  their  state  allowance, 
will  ensure  them  a  reasonable  measure  of  comfort  in 
the  last  years  of  life."  * 

*Mr.  W.  P.  Reeves,  Natio.idi  Review,  Feb.,  1899. 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.   331 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  LABOUE  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

"  PLEASE  govern  me  as  little  as  possible "  ex- 
pressed the  political  creed  of  Lord  Brougham. 
"  Please  govern  me  as  much  as  possible  "  expresses 
as  truly  the  political  creed  of  the  average  New  Zea- 
lander.  The  majority  of  the  electors  of  the  Colony 
have  an  unshaken  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  Acts  of  Par- 
liament. Any  session  which  does  not  witness  a  sub- 
stantial addition  to  the  bulk  of  the  colony's  Statutes 
is  popularly  regarded  as  a  wasted  opportunity.  We 
employ  seventy-four  representatives  at  a  salary  of 
£20  a  month  to  make  laws  for  us;  and  it  is  their 
business  to  do  it:  that  represents,  without  exaggera- 
tion, the  point  of  view  of  a  great  body  of  electors 
in  the  Colony. 

During  the  last  few  years  in  particular  a  large 
number  of  acts  have  been  passed,  the  effect  of  which 
is  to  subject  every  department  of  our  industrial  life 
to  elaborate  regulation  and  control.  Some  of  them 
are  no  doubt  crude  and  anomalous;  others  contain 
features  that  lend  colour  to  the  description  of  them 
as  "  Class  legislation."  The  Individualist  will  con- 
demn them  all ;  the  enlightened  Socialist  will  dis- 
approve of  many  of  them.  But,  on  the  whole,  they 
represent  an  honest  effort  to  ameliorate  the  condi- 
tions of  the  manual  workers;  and  though  in  New 
Zealand  there  was  not  any  acute  social  oppression  of 


332  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

workers  to  call  forth  these  laws,  their  existence  is 
justified  by  their  aim  of  "  preventing  the  installa- 
tion of  abuses  before  such  abuses  attain  formidable 
dimensions."  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that 
though,  in  their  inception,  some  of  these  laws  may 
be  described  as  "  class-legislation,"  before  being 
finally  passed  they  were  in  the  Lower  House  sub- 
jected to  criticism  and  amended  by  an  able  and  vig- 
orous, if  numerically  small,  opposition;  while  in 
the  Upper  Chamber  they  had  to  run  the  gauntlet  of 
an  extremely  hostile  majority.  They  represent  in 
most  instances,  therefore,  the  result  of  compromise. 

The  whole  body  of  Labour  Laws  in  New  Zealand 
is  comprised  in  some  fifteen  principal  enactments. 
In  many  cases  they  are  practically  identical  with 
laws  in  force  in  the  United  Kingdom ;  in  some  im- 
portant particulars,  however,  they  present  new  fea- 
tures, and  are  in  advance  of  such  legislation  else- 
where. For  the  purposes  of  brief  description  the 
enactments  in  these  different  laws  group  themselves 
conveniently  under  the  following  topics : — 

(a)  Sanitation  and  the  Regulation  of  Factories 
and  Shops. 

(b)  Hours  of  Labour  and  Holidays. 

(c)  Protection  of  Women  and  Children. 

(d)  Compensation  for  Accidents. 

(e)  Protection  of  Workmen's  Earnings. 

(f)  Industrial  Conciliation  and  Arbitration. 
The  Government  has  issued  for  the  convenience 

of  workers  and  employers  a  brief,  lucid,  and  cheap 
digest,  "  The  Handbook  of  the  Labour  Laws  of  New 
Zealand  " ;  and  of  this,  in  addition  to  consulting 
(he  Statutes  themselves,  we  have  availed  ourselves 
largely  in  the  following  exposition: 


THE  LABOUK  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.      333 
THE  REGULATION  OF  FACTORIES  AND  SHOPS. 

Every  factory  or  workshop  in  the  Colony  must 
be  registered  and  a  certificate  of  such  registration 
applied  for  and  obtained  in  January  of  each  year. 
The  application  for  registration  must  set  out  a  com- 
plete plan  of  the  premises,  must  specify  the  work 
carried  on,  and  the  motive  power  employed.  The 
Inspectors  who  are  empowered  to  issue  such  certifi- 
cates have  authority  also  to  enter,  at  any  reasonable 
hour  of  day  or  night,  any  factory  or  workshop — that 
is  to  say,  any  place  where  two  or  more  people  are 
employed  in  industrial  occupations  or  where  ma- 
chinery is  used.  The  Inspector  may  call  for  and 
examine  records  showing  the  names  of  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  factory,  their  ages,  if  under  twenty, 
their  hours  of  employment  and  holidays,  and  their 
earnings.  He  is  also  empowered  to  examine  any 
one  employed  in  the  factory  and  question  him  as  to 
the  occupier's  compliance  with  the  Act.  If  any 
work  is  done  outside  the  factory,  records  of  such  work 
must  be  kept  and  the  remuneration  specified ;  and 
any  article  so  made  must  not  be  exposed  for  sale 
unless  labelled  with  a  printed  ticket  setting  forth 
that  it  was  made  in  Number  so  and  so,  Street  so  and 
so,  in  a  private  dwelling  or  unregistered  workshop. 

Elaborate  provisions  are  made  to  ensure  good 
sanitation.  The  number  of  cubic  feet  to  be  allotted 
each  worker  is  specified:  250  cubic  feet  in  a  day 
workroom,  400  feet  in  a  night  workroom.  The  ar- 
rangements for  ventilation  must  be  approved  by  the 
inspector ;  the  walls  must  be  lime-washed  every  four- 
teen months,  or,  if  painted  or  varnished,  washed  witli 
ihot  water  and  soap  at  similar  intervals — certain 
reasonable  exceptions,  foundries,  flour-mills,  etc. — 


334  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

being  made  to  this  rule.  Rooms  in  which  meals  can 
be  taken  are  to  be  provided;  fresh  drinking  water  is 
to  be  furnished;  and  proper  fire-escapes  and  means 
of  egress  are  insisted  upon.  In  the  case  of  noxious 
trades  more  drastic  regulations  are  laid  down  for 
cleanliness  and  ventilation.  No  sleeping  place 
must  be  on  a  level  with  a  bakehouse  or  form  part  of 
the  same  building;  nor  will  any  bakehouse  be  ap- 
proved unless  drain  and  sewage  and  water  arrange- 
ments are  satisfactory.*  A  special  Act  f  empowers 
the  Inspector  to  enter  and  examine  shearing  sheds 
where  more  than  six  men  are  employed.  "  Proper 
and  efficient  sleeping  accommodation  "  must  be  pro- 
vided— in  this  case  240  cubic  feet  of  space  for  each 
shearer  sleeping  in  any  room ;  and  if  Chinese  shear- 
ers are  employed  they  must  be  housed  in  a  separate 
building.  Shops  in  towns  and  boroughs  are  also 
subject  to  supervision  and  similar  sanitary  arrange- 
ments are  enjoined.  All  Assistants  must  be  allowed 
not  less  than  one  hour  for  dinner.  The  sanitary 
regulations  in  these  Acts  cannot  in  any  case  be 
called  unreasonable.  Some  irritation  is  felt  by  em- 
ployers at  the  elaborate  records  they  are  required  to 
keep  and  the  formidable  returns  they  have  from 
time  to  time  to  send  in.  But  printed  forms  are  sup- 
plied for  these;  and  as  employers  get  used  to  these 
formalities,  their  irksomeness  will  no  doubt  wear 
off.  The  smooth  working  of  the  Acts  will  naturally 
depend  on  the  tact  of  the  Inspectors.  At  the  present 
time  there  are  164  of  these  under  the  Factory  Act 
alone;  some  of  them  have  qualified  for  the  position 
by  attaining  prominence  as  labour  agitators  which 

*  Factories'  Act,  1894. 

\  Shearers'  Accommodation  Act,  1898. 

|  Shops  and  Shop  Assistants'  Act,  1894. 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.       335 

naturally  does  not  make  them  personcs  grates  to  em- 
ployers. The  penalties  for  the  numerous  breaches 
an  employer  may  commit  vary  from  a  maximum  of 
£5  to  £10  for  a  first,  and  £50  for  a  subsequent  of- 
fence. Judging  from  the  diminishing  number  of 
prosecutions  under  these  clauses  it  is  just  to  infer 
that  they  operate  without  undue  irritation. 


nOTTES    OF    LABOUR    AND    HOLIDAYS. 

In  the  multiplicity  of  acts  in  New  Zealand  regu- 
lating employment  there  is  curiously  enough  no 
law  of  general  application  limiting  the  hours  of 
labour.  A  "  legal  eight-hours  day  "  is  occasionally 
demanded  by  sections  of  the  wage-earners;  but  the 
demand  is  not  earnestly  pressed  for  the  sufficient 
reason  that  the  eight-hours  day  is,  and  has  long  since 
been,  established  by  custom,  in  all  trades  where  its 
institution  is  practicable.  In  many  trades,  indeed, 
42  hours  per  week,  not  48,  is  the  rule,  the  Saturday 
afternoon  being  left  free.  A  Bill  making  Eight 
Hours  a  day  compulsory  by  law  has  several  times 
been  before  Parliament;  but  it  has  failed  to  pass 
because  the  Government  has  refused  to  make  the  law 
applicable  to  the  various  kinds  of  State-workshops. 
It  is  a  constant  ground  of  complaint  by  employers 
that  the  State  in  New  Zealand  carefully  exempts 
itself  from  the  operation  of  its  own  drastic  enact- 
ments. 

The  Hours  of  Labour  are,  however,  limited  by  law 
in  certain  special  cases.  In  factories  no  woman  or 
boy  under  16  may  be  employed  for  more  than  48 
hours  in  any  one  week.  In  shops  no  woman  or  per- 
son under  18  years  of  age  may  be  employed  for  more 
than  52  hours  in  any  one  week.  Half -holidays  are 


336  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

also  compulsory  in  certain  callings.  In  factories 
no  woman  or  person  under  eighteen  years  may  be 
employed  on  Christmas  Day,  New  Year's  Day,  Good 
Friday,  Easter  Monday  or  the  Sovereign's  Birth- 
day; nor  may  they  be  employed  on  any  Saturday 
after  one  o'clock,  and  wages  at  the  ordinary  rates 
must  be  paid  them  on  these  holidays.  The  Shop  and 
Shop  Assistants  Act  makes  a  weekly  half-holiday 
compulsory  in  all  shops.  In  cities  and  boroughs 
shops  must  be  closed  from  the  hour  of  1  P.M.  on  at 
least  one  day  in  the  week ;  the  "  local  authority " 
being  empowered  to  fix,  in  January  of  each  year, 
the  particular  day  of  the  week  to  be  observed. 

Certain  classes  of  shops,  such  as  chemists,  fruit- 
erers and  eating-house  keepers  are  exempt,  but  as- 
sistants in  these,  as  well  as  assistants  in  country- 
shops  and  in  all  hotel  bars,  must  have  a  half-holiday 
on  some  day  in  the  week.  Small  shops  kept  by  Euro- 
peans who  employ  no  assistants  outside  their  family, 
are  allowed  to  close  on  a  half-day  other  than  that 
fixed  by  the  local  authority.  In  offices  the  closing 
hours  are  fixed  at  5  P.M.  on  ordinary  days;  and  at 
1  P.M.  on  Saturdays.  Certain  reasonable  exemp- 
tions are  made  to  all  these  provisions.  The  offices 
of  evening  newspapers;  fish-preserving  factories  in 
the  fishing  season;  implement  dealers  during  har- 
vest time;  ship-chandlers  in  a  seaport;  banks  and 
offices  at  half-yearly  balance-time  are  all  subjects  of 
necessary  exemptions. 

The  Act  has  been  in  force  some  six  years  and  prac- 
tically all  signs  of  friction  and  irritation  have  dis- 
appeared; no  one  at  least  seriously  proposes  its  re- 
peal. The  majority  of  business  people  are  probably 
ready  to  admit  now  that  the  volume  of  their  trade 
has  not  been  diminished;  and  if  complaint  is  still 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.      337 

occasionally  heard  it  is  from  the  small  suburban 
shop-keeper.  Some  inconvenience  is  caused  by  the 
fact  that  the  Factory  Half-holiday  and  the  Shop 
Half -holiday  fall  on  different  days;  for  few  or  no 
"  local  authorities "  have  as  yet  selected  Saturday 
as  the  day  for  closing  shops.  In  some  towns  Wed- 
nesday, in  the  majority,  Thursday  is  that  chosen; 
while  factories,  banks,  warehouses  and  offices  gen- 
erally close  on  Saturday.  This  often  leads  to  in- 
convenience, as  may  be  imagined,  both  from  a  busi- 
ness and  a  family  point  of  view;  and  it  seems 
probable  that  ultimately  Saturday  will  become  the 
legal  half-holiday  in  all  callings.  There  is  perhaps 
no  other  among  the  labour  enactments  that  has  con- 
ferred such  obvious  benefit,  with  so  little  injury  and 
so  little  friction,  as  these  clauses  which  have  added 
half  a  day  a  week  to  the  leisure  of  the  community. 

PROTECTION   OF   WOMEN   AND    CHILDREN. 

The  lives,  health  and  comfort  of  women  and  chil- 
dren are  guarded  with  exceptional  jealousy  in  the 
Labour  Laws.  No  child  under  the  age  of  14  may 
be  employed  in  any  factory,  mine,  or  about  machin- 
ery. Children  between  the  ages  of  14  and  16  may 
be  employed  in  certain  trades,  but  only  on  produc- 
tion of  evidence  that  they  have  passed  the  examina- 
tion, or  an  equivalent,  prescribed  for  the  Fourth 
Standard  in  our  Education  Act;  and  on  the  pro- 
duction of  a  Factory  Inspector's  Certificate  that 
they  are  fit  for  such  employment.  Persons  of  either 
sex  between  the  ages  of  14  and  18  are  further  re- 
stricted from  employment  in  specified  trades:  sil- 
vering mirrors  or  making  white  lead,  melting  glass, 
making  or  finishing  bricks  or  tiles,  dry  grinding, 

w 


338  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

dipping  lucifer  matches,  wet  spinning;  and  a  few 
other  trades  regarded  as  specially  noxious.  No 
woman  or  person  under  sixteen  may  be  employed  in 
any  factory  for  more  than  48  hoars  a  week,  or  at 
any  time  between  six  in  the  evening  and  eight  in  the 
morning.  They  can  only  work  overtime  under 
stringent  restrictions  and  subject  to  an  Inspector's 
approval;  and  they  may  not  be  required  to  work 
for  more  than  four  and  a  half  hours  without  half 
an  hour's  interval  for  meals.  Women  and  children 
may  not  take  their  meals  in  a  workroom ;  and,  where 
more  than  six  are  employed,  a  room  with  sufficient 
tables  and  seating  accommodation  must  be  provided 
for  them  to  take  their  meals  in.  In  shops,  sitting 
accommodation  must  be  provided  for  female  assist- 
ants and  reasonable  use  of  it  permitted.  No  woman 
may  be  employed  in  a  factory  for  four  weeks  after 
a  confinement. 

In  "  mines  "  there  are  further  restrictions.  No 
female  of  any  age  may  be  employed  in  or  about  a 
mine  except  in  a  clerical  capacity.  No  boy  under 
14  may  be  employed ;  and  a  boy  under  18  must  not 
be  employed  as  lander  or  braceman  over  a  shaft ;  in 
the  use  of  explosives;  or  in  charge  of  any  engine, 
windlass  or  gin. 

COMPENSATION  FOB  ACCIDENTS. 

New  Zealanders  pride  themselves,  and  for  the 
most  part  with  justice,  on  the  "  advanced  "  charac- 
ter of  labour  legislation  in  the  Colony;  but  in  the 
matter  of  employers'  liability  for  accidents  the  law 
has  not  yet  proceeded  as  far  as  in  Germany ;  and  in 
some  respects  it  still  lags  behind  English  legislation 
on  the  subject  as  embodied  in  the  "  Workman's  Com- 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.      339 

pensation  Act,  1897."  The  New  Zealand  "  Employ- 
ers' Liability  Act "  is  modelled  upon  the  English 
Statute  of  the  same  title ;  though  some  of  its  clauses 
are  identical  with  part  of  the  "  Workman's  Com- 
pensation Act." 

In  this  Colony,  when  personal  injury  is  suffered, 
a  workman,  or,  in  case  of  his  death  from  the  injury, 
his  personal  representative,  has  the  same  remedy  for 
compensation  against  his  employer,  as  if  he  had  not 
been  in  the  service  of  that  employer  or  employed  in 
his  work.  But  the  employer's  liability  is  limited  to 
cases  where  the  injury  was  caused  by  reason  of  de- 
fective plant  or  machinery,  or  by  the  negligence  of 
any  person  in  the  employ  who  had  authority  over  the 
workman ;  or  because  of  improper  or  defective  rules 
or  instructions  under  which  the  work  was  carried 
out.  The  workman  loses  his  right  of  action  if  he 
knew  of  the  negligence  or  defect  and  did  not  give 
information  of  it;  or  if  the  injury  arose  from  his 
own  negligence.  "  Negligence  "  and  "  Contributory 
Negligence,"  which  have  so  often  disappointed  the 
just  hopes  of  injured  workmen,  thus  continue  bones 
of  litigious  contention  in  this  branch  of  law.  Under 
the  English  "  Workman's  Compensation  Act,"  on 
the  other  hand,  the  employer's  liability  to  pay  is 
wholly  irrespective  of  personal  delinquency  and 
negligence,  so  long  the  genius  of  this  branch  of  the 
law.  Employers  are  liable  for  all  accidents;  and 
contributory  negligence  does  not  disentitle  the  work- 
man to  recover  unless  serious  and  wilful  misconduct 
on  his  part  is  proved.  The  necessity  for  notice 
within  six  weeks,  swept  away  by  the  English  Act, 
is  also  retained  in  New  Zealand. 

In  some  points,  however,  the  New  Zealand  work- 
man is  in  the  same  favourable  position  as  his  Eng- 


340  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

lish  brother.  The  doctrine  of  "  Common  Employ- 
ment "  has  been  abolished  here ;  he  may  recover  for 
injury  sustained  through  the  fault  of  an  irrespon- 
sible fellow-workman.  "  Contracting  out  "  is  also 
forbidden;  any  agreement  entered  into  by  a  work- 
man binding  himself  or  his  personal  representatives 
not  to  claim  is  null  and  void.  And,  as  in  England, 
an  employer  is  liable  for  injuries  sustained  by  men 
in  the  employ  of  a  contractor  or  sub-contractor;  but 
in  this  case  only  when  his  negligence  is  proved.  As 
to  the  amount  of  compensation  receivable,  it  is  lim- 
ited to  three  years'  wages,  and  may  not  in  any  case 
exceed  £500.  But  weekly  compensation  for  the  in- 
jured man  is  not  provided  for  as  in  England,  where 
it  may  continue  for  years  and  reach  as  high  as 
£1000. 

In  view  of  the  cumbersome  litigation  which  so 
frequently  arises  from  the  recognition  of  the  doc- 
trine of  "  Negligence  "  and  the  bogey  of  "  Costs," 
which  so  often  stands  between  the  workman  and  jus- 
tice, it  is  to  be  hoped  the  law  in  New  Zealand  will 
ultimately  be  brought  into  line  with  the  English 
Act. 

Experience  of  the  working  of  the  Act  in  England 
will  doubtless  lead  in  time  to  the  evolution  of  a 
satisfactory  scheme  of  insurance;  which  will  ulti- 
mately have  the  effect  of  throwing  the  employer's 
increased  liability  on  cost  of  production  and  so,  by 
distributing  the  burden,  lighten  its  weight.  The 
facility  with  which  the  Workman's  Compensation 
Act,  introduced  by  the  Conservatives,  passed  both 
Houses  of  Parliament  in  England,  and  the  general 
support  it  met  with  from  men  of  all  shades  of  politi- 
cal opinion,  renders  it  at  least  probable  that  this  far- 
reaching  boon  will  in  New  Zealand,  also,  at  no  dis- 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.   34! 

tant  date  be  conferred  upon  "  the  wounded  soldiers 
of  industry." 


PROTECTION   OF  WORKMEN^   WAGES. 

The  earnings  of  a  workman  form  the  subject  of 
a  large  number  of  Acts  of  which  the  necessity  is 
less  apparent  and  the  benefits  less  obvious  than  is 
the  case  with  most  of  the  other  labour  Statutes.  The 
"  Truck  Act,"  1891,  forbids  the  payment  of  wages 
in  goods  or  otherwise  than  in  money.  In  any  con- 
tract with  a  workman  wages  are  payable  in  money 
only;  any  clause  providing  that  part  of  the  wages 
shall  be  paid  in  goods  or  otherwise  than  in  money 
is  null  and  void;  and  an  employer  may  not  sue  for 
the  value  of  goods  supplied  to  a  workman  at  any 
shop  or  store  belonging  in  any  degree  to  him;  nor 
may  he,  in  a  claim  for  wages  against  him,  plead  any 
counter-claim  or  set-off.  Some  exemptions  are  per- 
mitted under  the  Act:  An  employer  may  supply 
medical  aid;  may  allow  the  use  of  a  tenement  as 
part  of  wages;  may  supply  cooked  victuals  or  non- 
intoxicating  drinks  to  be  consumed  under  his  roof; 
or  may  advance  moneys  to  enable  a  workman  to  pay 
life  assurance  or  friendly  society  premiums.  But 
these  exemptions  do  not  apply  to  any  contracts  under 
the  Government,  a  local  authority,  or  for  the  pur- 
poses of  railway  or  road  formation.  The  Act  does 
not  apply  to  agricultural  or  pastoral  pursuits.  The 
"  Workman's  Wages  Act,"  1893,  makes  wages  due 
to  workmen  a  first  charge  upon  moneys  due  to  a 
contractor.  Wages  are  to  be  paid  to  a  workman  at 
intervals  of  not  more  than  one  week;  when  the 
wages  are  eight  clear  days  in  arrear  a  workman  may 


342  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

serve  the  employer  of  the  contractor  with  "  Notice 
of  Attachment "  of  all  moneys  due  to  him  by  the 
contractor,  and  the  employer  must  retain  such  moneys 
till  the  claim  is  heard  in  Court.  Such  notice  of  at- 
tachment of  wages  has  priority  over  any  other  claim ; 
the  employer  is  not  liable  for  more  than  the  sum 
due  under  the  contract,  but  he  cannot  set-off  moneys 
paid  to  the  contractor  in  advance.  "  The  Contract- 
or's and  Workman's  Lien  Act,"  1892,  provides  that 
a  contractor,  or  a  sub-contractor,  or  workman  who 
does  any  work  in  connection  with  land,  buildings 
or  a  chattel  is  entitled  to  a  lien  upon  the  whole  inter- 
est of  the  employer  in  that  land,  building  or  chattel. 
A  contractor's  lien  does  not  exceed  the  amount  due 
to  him  at  the  time  upon  the  contract;  and  a  work- 
man's lien  does  not  exceed  thirty  days'  earnings. 
Due  notice  must  bo  given,  and  in  the  case  of  land 
the  lien  must  be  duly  registered.  When  these  pro- 
visions are  complied  with  the  liens  have  priority  in 
the  following  order:  (1)  The  liens  of  workmen 
for  wages;  (2)  The  liens  of  sub-contractors;  (3) 
The  liens  of  contractors. 

The  "  Wages  Attachment  Act,"  1895,  secures  the 
wages  of  a  workman  up  to  £2  a  week  from  attach- 
ment for  debt.  In  the  case  of  the  bankruptcy  of  an 
employer  the  wages  of  clerks  up  to  £100  and  of 
workmen  up  to  £50  are  preferential  claims.  Boys 
or  girls  under  18  years  of  age  may  not  be  employed 
in  any  factory  unless  paid  a  minimum  wage  of  5s.  per 
week  for  boys  and  4s.  a  week  for  girls ;  and  for  such 
boys  or  girls  premiums  may  not  be  taken  or  received. 
"  The  Servant's  Registry  Office  Act "  provides  for 
the  registration  of  all  such  offices;  prescribes  the 
maximum  scale  of  fees  that  may  be  charged  for  pro- 
curing situations;  and  forbids  any  registry  office 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.      343 

keeper  from  conducting  or  being  interested  in  any 
lodging-house  for  servants. 

In  this  department  of  legislation  there  seems  good 
ground  for  the  criticism  that  zeal  has  outstripped 
discretion.  It  is  open  to  grave  doubt  whether  the 
avoidance  of  the  evils  sought  to  be  remedied  is  not 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  interference  with 
freedom  of  contract;  the  restriction  of  a  workman's 
credit;  and  the  increased  difficulty  of  procuring  em- 
ployment for  his  children  or  getting  them  taught 
skilled  trades. 


INDUSTRIAL   CONCILIATION   AND  ARBITRATION. 

By  far  the  most  interesting,  as  it  is  the  most  novel, 
of  our  legislative  experiments  is  the  attempt  that 
has  been  made  to  substitute  for  the  crude  arbitrament 
of  the  strike  and  the  lock-out  an  ordered  and  legally 
regulated  system  of  conciliation  and  arbitration. 
It  may  be  described  as  an  effort  to  provide  a  method 
of  voluntary  conciliation,  with  a  system  of  com- 
pulsory arbitration  in  the  background.  The  author 
of  the  act  was  the  Hon.  W.  P.  Reeves ;  to  his  ardent 
advocacy  the  measure  owes  its  place  on  our  statute- 
book;  and  to  his  constructive  ability  it  chiefly  owes 
those  features  which  make  it  in  many  ways  an  ad- 
mirable, though  far  from  a  perfect,  piece  of  legis- 
latior.  His  chief  aim  in  the  measure  was  to  do 
away  with  the  recurrence  of  strikes  and  lock-outs 
and  their  attendant  evils ;  he  hoped  this  aim  would 
be  attained  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  by 
the  machinery  for  conciliation  provided  in  the  bill ; 
and  that  the  system  of  compulsory  arbitration  which 
he  deemed  its  necessary  complement  would  be  called 
into  requisition  only  as  a  last  resource.  \Ve  shall 


344  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

endeavour  to  show  how  he  proposed  to  effect  this 
aim  by  giving  a  brief  outline  of  the  salient  features 
of  the  bill;  and  shall  then  endeavour  to  examine 
how  far  his  aims  have  been  attained  by  discussing 
the  actual  results. 

The  law,  which  came  into  force  in  1894,  is  sig- 
nificantly entitled  "  An  Act  to  encourage  the  forma- 
tion of  industrial  unions  and  associations,  and  to 
facilitate  the  settlement  of  industrial  disputes  by 
conciliation  and  arbitration." 

It  provides  in  the  first  place  for  the  constitution 
and  registration  of  "  Industrial  Unions  " — societies 
of  not  less  than  five  persons,  lawfully  associated  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  or  furthering  the  inter- 
ests of  workmen  and  employers.  Any  such  society, 
whether  a  trade  union  or  an  employers'  association, 
which  conforms  to  the  requirements  of  the  Act  in 
its  rules  and  objects,  becomes  by  registration  a  body 
corporate  with  power  to  own  land,  sue  and  be  sued ; 
and  becomes  subject,  as  do  its  individual  members, 
to  the  jurisdiction  given  to  Boards  of  Conciliation 
and  the  Court  of  Arbitration  by  the  Act.  A  com- 
bination of  any  number  of  "  industrial  unions " 
may  be  registered  as  an  "  Industrial  Association." 

The  Act  further  provides  a  form  for  drawing  up 
"  industrial  agreements  "  between  trade-unions,  in- 
dustrial unions,  and  employers,  for  a  term  not  ex- 
ceeding three  years.  These  may  provide  "  for  any 
matter  affecting  any  industrial  matter  " — a  vague 
clause  explained  to  mean,  amongst  other  things, 
questions  of  wages,  hours  of  employment,  the  age, 
sex,  and  qualifications  of  workers,  apprentices,  and 
any  "  custom  "  or  "  usage  "  in  an  industry.  Such 
agreement  is  binding  on  the  parties  to  it,  on  every 
person  who  is  a  member  of  any  union  party  thereto, 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.   345 

and  on  every  individual  employer  who  may  signify 
to  the  Registrar  of  the  Court  where  it  is  filed  his 
concurrence  therein. 

The  Colony  is  then  divided  into  six  "  industrial 
districts,"  in  each  of  which  is  set  up  a  "  Board  of 
Conciliation,"  consisting  of  four  members  and  a 
chairman.  The  four  members  are  elected,  two  and 
two,  by  registered  unions  of  workmen  and  employers 
respectively ;  and  the  four  thus  elected  must  "  choose 
some  impartial  person  outside  their  own  number " 
as  chairman.  The  Board  holds  office  for  three  years 
and  has  jurisdiction  for  the  settlement  of  disputes 
that  may  be  brought  before  it  by  the  terms  of  an 
"  industrial  agreement,"  or  by  an  application  lodged 
by  a  registered  union  (in  pursuance  of  a  majority 
resolution),  or  by  an  individual  employer.  Of  dis- 
putes between  individual  or  unorganised  workmen 
and  an  employer  the  Act  takes  no  cognisance.  The 
Board  must  then  proceed  to  hear  the  evidence  ad- 
duced by  the  party  bringing  the  dispute  or  by  such 
of  the  other  parties  as  choose  to  appear.  It  has  all 
the  power  of  a  Court  to  call  and  examine  witnesses ; 
but  is  not  bound  by  legal  rules  as  to  evidence  and 
procedure.  A  union  may  be  represented  by  its  chair- 
man or  by  members  not  exceeding  three,  appointed 
by  its  chairman;  but  counsel  must  not  be  employed 
except  with  the  consent  of  all  the  parties.  The 
Board,  having  taken  such  steps  as  it  deems  necessary 
to  arrive  at  the  truth,  proceeds  "  to  decide  the  ques- 
tion according  to  the  merits  and  substantial  justice 
of  the  case,  and  makes  its  report  or  recommendation 
in  writing,  delivered  to  the  clerk."  Should  all  the 
parties  intimate  that  they  accept  the  recommendation 
or  report,  it  is  put  into  the  form  of  an  "  Industrial 
agreement "  binding  for  a  specified  term  not  exceed- 


346  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ing  three  years.  The  agreement  is  then  filed  in  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  any  breach  of  it  is  punishable 
by  a  penalty  not  exceeding  such  amount  as  is  fixed 
by  the  agreement,  and  where  no  amount  is  fixed, 
then  not  exceeding  £500.  Should  the  parties,  how- 
ever, not  thus  agree  to  accept  the  recommendation 
of  the  Board  of  Conciliation  the  matter  is  carried 
before  the  Arbitration  Court. 

There  is  one  peripatetic  Court  of  Arbitration  for 
the  whole  Colony,  which  sits  in  different  districts 
as  occasion  requires.  It  consists  of  three  members, 
one  appointed  on  the  nomination  of  employers' 
unions,  one  on  the  nomination  of  workmen's  unions, 
and  one,  the  president,  appointed  by  the  Governor 
in  Council.  The  president  must  be  a  judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  The  Court  has  jurisdiction  over 
any  dispute  referred  to  it  by  a  Board,  or  by  an  in- 
dustrial agreement.  Thus  a  trade  union  by  declin- 
ing the  terms  of  a  Board  of  Conciliation  award  can 
force  all  the  employers  of  the  district  in  that  par- 
ticular trade  into  the  Court  of  Arbitration,  and  can 
demand  a  decision  of  the  Court  on  "  any  matter 
affecting  any  industrial  matter."  As  in  the  cases 
before  Boards  of  Conciliation,  parties  may  be  repre- 
sented by  members  or  agents,  but  not  by  counsel, 
except  with,  the  consent  of  all  parties.  The  Court 
may  permit  other  parties,  having  a  common  interest 
in  the  matter,  to  be  joined;  may  compel  the  attend- 
ance of  witnesses  and  receive  evidence,  whether 
strictly  legal  or  not,  on  oath.  It  may  refer  any  point 
to  a  Board  or  to  experts  to  report ;  may  dismiss  any 
matter  as  trivial  or  frivolous  and  award  costs  against 
the  party  bringing  it.  A  majority  of  members  pres- 
ent in  the  Court  may  decide  the  question.  The 
award  must  be  framed  so  as  to  express  the  decision 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.       347 

clearly  and  must  avoid  technicalities,  if  possible, 
must  state  clearly  what  each  party  is  or  is  not  to  do 
under  it,  and  may  provide  for  the  payment  of  costs. 
The  Court  may  in  its  award,  or  during  its  currency, 
determine  what  constitutes  a  breach,  and  what  sum, 
not  exceeding  £500,  shall  be  the  penalty.  The  award 
is  absolutely  final  and  no  appeal  lies  to  any  other 
Court  on  any  account  whatever. 

The  award  must  specify  each  union  or  person  on 
whom  it  is  intended  to  be  binding;  and  it  remains 
in  force  for  a  period  specified,  but  not  exceeding 
two  years.  So  far  as  the  award  directs  the  payment 
of  money  it  is  deemed  to  be  an  order  of  the  Court, 
and  is  enforced  accordingly;  and  where  any  party 
commits  a  breach,  any  other  party  may  apply  to  the 
Court  for  the  enforcement  of  the  award. 

The  Act  c;ime  into  force  in  1894,  and  has  thus  been 
in  operation  only  for  a  few  years.  For  the  first 
two  years  it  remained  practically  a  dead  letter: 
Unions  of  workmen  were  tardy  in  registering; 
unions  of  employers  hardly  registered  at  all;  and 
neither  the  Boards  of  Conciliation  nor  the  Arbi- 
tration Court  were  brought  into  requisition.  The 
first  dispute  adjudicated  upon  came  before  a  Con- 
ciliation Board  in  September,  1896.  Since  that 
time,  however,  there  has  been  no  lack  of  "disputes," 
the  total  to  the  end  of  1899  being  62,  and  the  year 
1900  has  so  far  been  exceptionally  prolific. 

The  primary  aim  of  the  measure  is  the  prevention 
of  "strikes"  and  "lock-outs."  The  author  of  it, 
the  Hon.  W.  P.  Reeves,  claims  that,  judged  by  this 
test,  it  has  "  met  with  a  remarkable  measure  of  suc- 
cess." "  Of  strikes  by  Trade  Unions  there  have 
been  none  and  there  should  be  none  so  long  as  the 
Act  can  be  made  to  work."  "  The  reviving  prosper- 


3-18  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ity  of  the  Colony  during  the  last  three  years  has  led 
the  Trade  Unions  to  make  use  of  the  Act.  In  place 
of  striking  on  a  rising  market,  as  they  do  in  other 
countries,  they  have  gone  to  arbitration."  *  This 
evidence,  however,  has  only  a  negative  value.  It  is 
true  that  in  the  three  and  a  half  years  since  Septem- 
ber, 1896,  when  the  Act  was  first  brought  into  effect- 
ive use,  there  have  been  no  strikes.  But  in  the 
seven  years  preceding  this  date  there  were  not  any 
strikes  of  importance  either.  The  disastrous  lessons 
of  the  Maritime  Strike  in  1889  may  therefore  fairly 
claim  their  share  of  credit  for  this  ten  years' 
immunity  from  labour  warfare.  As  to  lock-outs,  it 
may  fairly  be  expected  that  none  of  these  will  occur 
"  so  long  as  the  Act  can  be  made  to  work."  To  pre- 
vent a  lock-out  a  union,  the  moment  a  cause  of  dis- 
agreement presents  itself,  has  but  to  lodge  a  "  dis- 
pute "  with  the  Clerk  of  Awards,  and  from  that 
moment  the  employer  is  forbidden  by  the  Act  to 
dismiss  or  lock-out  his  men,  unless  he  can  prove  that 
his  doing  so  had  no  connection  with  the  dispute  pend- 
ing. This  may  appear  to  some  a  startling  provision 
which  public  opinion  would  never  sanction.  Yet  it 
was  given  legal  effect  to  in  a  colliery  dispute.  An 
employer  dismissed  three  members  of  a  union  pend- 
ing the  dispute.  He  admitted  the  dismissal  but 
denied  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  dispute. 
The  Court  compelled  him  to  reinstate  the  men  and 
to  pay  their  damages  amounting  to  £56 — the  wages 
they  would  have  earned  in  the  interval  between  dis- 
missal and  reinstatement.  Liable  to  penalties  up  to 
£500,  to  attachment,  and  in  the  last  resort  to  im- 
prisonment for  breach,  it  is  highly  improbable  that 

-  Tlie  Long  White  Cloud,  1898,  p.  SCO. 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.   349 

any  employer  will  have  the  temerity  to  order  a  lock- 
out "  so  long  as  the  Act  can  be  made  to  work."  As 
to  the  probable  prevention  of  strikes  one  does  not 
feel  so  sanguine.  It  is  true,  "  an  employer  has  but 
to  lodge  a  '  dispute '  and  the  men  are  bound  to  con- 
tinue to  work  till  the  dispute  is  ended."  *  But  how 
bound?  The  property  of  the  Union  is  liable  to  at- 
tachment and  members  are  individually  liable  up  to 
£10,  if  they  disobey.  But  the  chances  are  the  Union 
has  scarcely  any  funds;  and  the  remedy  against 
individual  workmen  is  for  obvious  reasons  "  purely 
illusory." 

Among  members  of  trades  unions  the  Act  is  natur- 
ally an  extremely  popular  measure.  It  has  con- 
ferred upon  them  very  substantial  advantages:  the 
awards  made  have  frequently  fixed  considerably  in- 
creased rates  of  wages;  in  some  cases  more  favour- 
able schedules  of  piece-work  prices  have  been  drawn 
up ;  and  several  decisions  have  limited  a  "  minimum 
wage."  In  a  large  number  of  the  awards  employers 
have  been  commanded  to  give  preference  to  union 
men ;  in  most  of  the  others  they  have  been  forbidden 
to  discriminate  either  in  pay  or  selection  between 
unionists  and  non-unionists. 

Employers  opposed  to  it  at  first  a  passive  resist- 
ance. They  were  tardy  in  forming  and  registering 
industrial  unions,  they  neglected  to  avail  themselves 
of  their  right  to  elect  representatives  on  the  Concili- 
ation Boards  or  to  nominate  a  member  of  the  Arbi- 
tration Court;  and  up  to  December,  1899,  no  em- 
ployer or  association  of  employers  had  invoked  the 
Act,  the  initiative  in  each  of  the  62  disputes  up  to 
that  time  heard  having  been  taken  by  unions.  Em- 
ployers, however,  recognising  that  the  Act  has,  in 
*  Hon.  Mr.  Rigg,  M.L.C.,  Hansard,  Nov.  3rd.  1899. 


350  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

some  form  or  other,  come  to  stay,  are  gradually 
modifying  this  attitude.  They  show  more  inclination 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege  of  election  of 
members  of  Conciliation  Boards;  and  there  is  good 
ground  for  believing  that  in  the  course  of  another 
year  or  two  they  will  be  found  as  ready  as  are  union- 
ists to  avail  themselves  of  the  Act  in  the  protection 
of  their  interests. 

The  "  machinery "  of  the  bill  is  in  many  ways 
open  to  criticism;  and  in  some  directions  amend- 
ment has  been  found  necessary.  The  Boards  of 
Conciliation  are  not  so  constituted  as  to  command 
respect.  The  provision  by  which  employers'  and 
workmen's  unions  select  two  members  each  does  not 
in  practice  result  in  a  tribunal  which  represents  a 
compromise,  but  in  a  body  divided  on  party  lines, 
tAvo  and  two,  with  a  chairman  to  steady  as  well  as 
he  can  the  oscillating  scales  of  justice.  The  mem- 
bers chosen  by  the  unions  are  for  the  most  part  men 
who  have  been  ardent  unionist  champions  and  even 
ringleaders  of  strikes.  Either  they  have  no  knowl- 
edge of  trade  intricacies  and  technicalities ;  or  where 
their  own  particular  trade  happens  to  come  before 
them  in  a  dispute  they  are  partisan  experts  rather 
than  judges.  Much  the  same  objections  apply  to 
the  constitution  of  the  Court  of  Arbitration.  Two 
of  its  members  are,  by  the  very  mode  of  their  nomi- 
nation, party  men.  The  president  is  a  Supreme 
Court  judge,  a  barrister  with  all  the  .conservative 
devotion  of  a  legal  mind  to  form  and  precedent, 
called  to  decide  intricate  technical  questions  on 
evidence  which  may  be  "  strictly  legal "  or  not,  in  a 
court  whose  procedure  is  "  not  to  be  fettered  by 
precedence,"  and  to  embody  his  decisions  in  "awards 
which  must  avoid  technicalities/" 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.   351 

The  severest,  as  it  is  perhaps  the  ablest,  criticism 
of  the  Act  is  from  the  pen  of  a  late  member  of  the 
Upper  House,  who  was  called  to  that  chamber  on 
the  nomination  of  the  Progressive  Ministry,  and 
may  therefore  not  unfairly  be  deemed  an  impartial 
critic  of  their  measures.  The  two  main  counts  in 
his  indictment  against  the  measure  are  that  the  Act 
is  being  "  ridden  to  death  by  the  trade  unions,"  who 
have  converted  it  into  an  instrument  of  coercion, 
and  that  "  the  existence  in  the  background  of  a  com- 
pulsory Court  of  Arbitration  has  not  tended  to  pro- 
mote conciliation,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  Concili- 
ation Boards  have  proved  merely  a  costly  and  useless 
appendage."  * 

As  to  the  first,  the  author  of  the  bill  himself  is 
constrained  to  admit  that  the  unions  "  have  shown  a 
tendency  to  make  too  frequent  use  of  the  Act "  and 
that  their  officials  "  would  do  well  to  be  more  brief 
and  business-like  in  their  conduct  of  cases."  A  tend- 
ency to  manufacture  disputes  has  no  doubt  shown 
itself,  and  the  suggestion  that  they  foment  disputes 
with  a  view  to  the  fees  receives  some  colour  from 
recent  cases.  Many  of  the  complaints  brought  have 
been  frivolous  or  trivial ;  in  other  cases  the  executive 
which  manages  the  concerns  of  a  union  have  lodged 
a  "  dispute,"  and  the  first  intimation  the  workers 
had  of  a  difference  between  them  and  their  employ- 
ers was  through  the  newspapers ;  while  in  three  cases, 
where  it  was  sought  to  have  employers  in  the  baking 
trade  imprisoned  for  trumpery  breaches  of  an  award, 
the  action  of  the  unions  was  undoubtedly  ill-ad- 
vised. But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Court 
has  power  to  dismiss  a  "  trivial "  or  "  frivolous  " 

*The  Hon.  J.  MacGregor.  M.L.C..    in  the  National  Re- 
view, October,  1802. 


352  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

complaint  with  costs  againsts  the  complainant — a 
power  that  will  soon  prove  a  salutary  check  on  ex- 
cessive unionist  zeal;  while  an  amending  act  now 
forbids  the  executive  of  a  union  from  lodging  a 
dispute,  unless  instructed  to  do  so  by  a  majority  of 
members  present  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  whole 
union.  Though  unionists  have  not  resisted  the  temp- 
tation to  use  the  act  for  the  advantage  of  their  own 
corporate  interests,  it  must  be  admitted  that  where 
they  have  invoked  the  Arbitration  Court  the  results 
have  proved  their  judgment ;  for  in  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  62  cases  brought  up  to  December,  1899,  the 
Court  decided  strongly  in  favour  of  the  unionist 
claims;  while  in  one  only  did  the  award  go  against 
them.  Nor,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  have  any 
important  awards  been  given  against  them  since. 

As  to  the  second  point — the  break-down  of  the 
conciliation  clauses  of  the  act — the  most  enthusiastic 
supporters  of  the  measure  must  here  acknowledge 
failure.  "  I  do  not  think,"  said  Mr.  Reeves  in  speak- 
ing on  the  Bill  before  the  House,  "  the  Arbitration 
Court  will  be  very  often  called  into  requisition ;  on 
the  contrary,  I  think  that  in  ninety  cases  out  of  a 
hundred  in  which  labour  disputes  arise,  they  will 
be  settled  by  the  Boards  of  Conciliation."  The  re- 
sult of  actual  experience  has,  however,  been  very 
different.  More  than  two-thirds  of  the  disputes 
brought  before  Boards  are  ultimately  carried  to  the 
Court.  Of  the  first  62  disputes  referred  to  the 
Boards  bv  unions  all  but  19  were  carried  to  arbitra- 
tion. Neither  party  comes  before  the  Conciliation 
tribunal  with  any  confidence  in  the  finality  of  its 
decision ;  both  feel  they  are  going  through  a  lengthy, 
tedious  and  irritating  investigation  which  will  serve 
no  practical  purpose;  and  that  the  whole  business 


THE  LABOUR  LAWS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND.      353 

will  have  to  be  gone  over  again  in  the  higher  Court. 
A  section  of  the  labour  organisations  are  already 
seriously  discussing  the  abolition  of  the  Conciliation 
Boards  as  useless ;  and  the  great  majority  of  employ- 
ers would  probably  be  heartily  glad  to  see  them  done 
away  with. 

There  is,  however,  no  need  on  this  account  to  de- 
spair of  the  ultimate  success  of  this  interesting  ex- 
periment. There  is  on  the  contrary  strong  ground 
for  hope.  The  faults  of  construction  which  experi- 
ence has  revealed  in  the  Act  will  no  doubt  be  remedied 
by  further  legislation;  in  particular,  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Boards  and  the  provision  for  enforcing 
awards  call  for  change.  As  experience  of  the  work- 
ing of  the  Act  increases,  unionists  will  probably 
become  less,  employers  more,  eager  to  invoke  its  aid. 
So  far,  a  steady  revival  of  prosperity  has  helped 
the  success  of  the  Act  in  operation ;  whether  it  will 
stand  equally  well  the  test  of  a  falling  labour  mar- 
ket remains,  of  course,  to  be  seen.  But  public 
opinion  in  the  Colony  is  quite  prepared  to  give  the 
experiment  a  fair  trial;  and  employers  anid  em- 
ployed alike  will  readily  put  up  with  incidental  diffi- 
culties and  even  hardships  in  the  operation  of  the 
Act  rather  than  revert  in  labour  disputes  to  the  argu- 
ment of  the  brick-bat. 


PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT. 

THE  abolition  of  the  provinces  in  1878  left  the 
Land  Laws  of  the  Colony,  as  it  did  Education  and 
Finance,  in  a  state  of  chaos.  There  were  as  many 
different  systems  of  land  purchase  and  land-occu- 
pation as  there  were  provinces  to  administer  them. 
The  Land  Regulations  promulgated  by  Sir  George 
Grey  in  1853,  under  which  crown  lands  were  sold 
at  ten  shillings  an  acre  without  limitation  as  to 
quantity,  had  led  to  the  creation  of  large  pastoral 
estates.  While  there  were  few  facilities  for  com- 
munication, while  population  was  small,  and  while 
wool-growing  formed  the  chief  business  of  the  Col- 
ony, it  was  inevitable  that,  as  settlement  moved 
inland  from  the  coast  towns,  settlers  should  individ- 
ually hold  larger  and  larger  areas.  The  large  run- 
holder  in  his  day  played  his  part,  and  played  it  often 
well,  in  the  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
young  Colony.  But  with  the  Public  Works  Policy 
and  the  consequent  opening  up  of  the  country  by 
roads  and  railways;  with  the  Immigration  Policy 
and  the  consequent  influx  of  population,  and  with 
the  increasing  importance  of  other  rural  industries 
than  grazing,  there  arose  a  demand  for  a  different 
kind  of  settler.  The  call  for  "  land  for  the  people  " 
became  the  most  pressing  cry  in  politics;  the  large 
estates  already  created  made  it  more  difficult  to  sat- 
isfy the  growing  earth-hunger;  the  railways  had 


TPIE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       355 

enormously  increased  the  values  of  these  estates; 
"  betterment "  had  scarcely  even  been  heard  of,  still 
less  applied ;  the  "  unearned  increment "  of  the  run- 
holder  made  him  regarded  as  something  little  short 
of  a  robber ;  and  "  land-sharks  "  and  "  social  pests  " 
were  names  freely  applied  to  every  one  who  owned 
above  5,000  acres. 

All  this  is  now  in  a  fair  way  to  being  remedied. 
The  progress  of  land  settlement  during  the  last  ten 
or  fifteen  years  is  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  fea- 
ture in  the  history  of  the  Colony.  From  1896  to 
1898  the  area  of  occupied  lands,  exclusive  of  crown 
pastoral  leases,  increased  from  17  to  24  million 
acres.  Of  a  total  of  60,759  holdings  in  the  latter 
year,  58  per  cent  were  from  1  to  100  acres  in  extent ; 
73  per  cent  were  from  1  to  200  acres;  82  per  cent 
from  1  to  320  acres ;  while  only  17  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  holdings  were  over  320  acres.  And 
the  process  of  subdivision  and  closer  settlement  goes 
on  and  will  continue  to  go  on  for  many  years  to  come. 
In  the  process  the  large  runholder  has  not  suffered, 
as  he  dreaded,  spoliation ;  his  "  unearned  incre- 
ment "  has  not  been  confiscated ;  the  worst  he  can 
complain  of  is  that  Parliament  has  applied  the  lene 
tormentum  of  a  graduated  tax  to  his  purse.  Many 
holders  annually  offer  their  lands  to  the  Government 
for  settlement  purposes,  and  seem  well  contented 
with  the  prices  they  receive;  while,  in  a  very  few 
cases,  estates  have  been  acquired  under  an  act  which 
gives  the  Government  power  of  compulsory  purchase. 

Successive  governments  have  for  years  past  vied 
with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to  carry  out  the  "  land 
for  the  people  "  policy.  To  have  settled  more  people 
on  the  land  than  his  predecessor  gives  a  minister  an 
even  surer  claim  to  popularity  than  to  have  added 


356  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

more  inches  to  the  statute  book.  Among  ministers 
who  have  in  the  last  two  decades  been  placed  in 
charge  of  the  Department  of  Lands  and  Agriculture 
the  names  of  three  stand  out  prominently  for  their 
wise  policy  and  successful  administration  in  promot- 
ing close  settlement:  William  Rolleston,  John  Bal- 
lance  and  John  MacKenzie.  To  their  united  efforts 
is  due  the  present  land  system  of  New  Zealand,  under 
which  the  Government  carries  out  its  policy  of 
"  placing  the  people  on  the  land." 

There  are  many  varieties  of  tenure  under  that 
system ;  but  two  broad  principles  underlie  the  whole : 
the  State-ownership  of  the  soil,  with  the  perpetual 
tenancy  of  the  occupier;  and  the  limitation  of  area 
which  one  man  may  hold.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred 
from  this,  however,  that  the  Nationalisation  of  land 
has  been  adopted  in  New  Zealand  or  that  its  doc- 
trines are  ever  likely  to  find  general  acceptance  in 
the  colony.  The  majority  of  land  occupiers  are  free- 
holders, and  any  legislation  in  the  direction  of  State- 
resumption  would  meet  with  small  support.  The 
system  of  State-ownership  with  perpetual  tenancy  is 
adopted  simply  as  a  convenience  to  the  occupier  with 
a  limited  capital ;  and  he  has  other  tenures  on  which 
he  can  select  at  his  option. 

As  a  rule  when  Crown  land  is  thrown  open  for 
selection  it  is  offered  to  the  public  on  three  different 
systems.  The  intending  settler  may  acquire  the 
freehold  for  cash ;  or  a  lease  of  twenty-five  years  with 
a  purchasing  clause;  or  a  lease  in  perpetuity.  Un- 
der this  last  system  the  land  is  leased  for  a  period  of 
999  years,  subject  to  certain  conditions  imposed  as 
to  residence  and  improvements.  The  rental  is  fixed 
at  4  per  cent  on  the  cash  price  of  the  land  and  there 
is  at  no  time  a  right  of  purchase.  The  tenure  has 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       357 

practically  all  the  fixity  of  a  freehold ;  it  carries  with 
it  a  freeholder's  rights  of  sale,  mortgage,  sub-lease,  or 
disposition  by  will.  There  is  no  periodical  revalua- 
tion ;  the  rent  fixed  at  the  outset  remaining  constant. 
It  offers  to  the  poor  man,  especially,  the  attraction 
that  he  can  take  up  land  with  very  little  capital,  and 
what  capital  he  has  he  can  lay  out  in  improvements 
instead  of  spending  it  on  the  purchase  of  the 
freehold. 

Several  interesting  experiments  have  been  made 
in  the  direction  of  settling  workmen  with  little  or 
no  capital  on  small  holdings,  in  situations  where  the 
occupier  may  hope  to  eke  out  his  income  from  the 
land  by  working  for  part  of  the  year  at  harvesting, 
shearing,  road-making,  or  at  his  own  particular  craft. 
Under  the  1892  Land  Act,  "  small  farm  associa- 
tions "  of  not  less  than  twelve  persons  may  select  a 
block  of  land  up  to  11,000  acres  on  the  "  Lease  in 
Perpetuity "  system.  This  experiment  in  agricul- 
tural Co-operation  has  only  met  with  moderate  suc- 
cess. Six  years  after  the  system  came  into  force 
there  were  some  1000  settlers  holding  under  it  in 
different  parts  of  the  colony.  The  quality  of  the 
land  selected  and  proximity  to  markets  were  natur- 
ally important  elements  in  success.  Most  of  this 
class  of  settlers  are  unfortunately  barely  holding 
their  own.  The  "  Village  Settlements "  system 
seemed  to  promise  brighter  prospects  of  success. 
Under  it,  settlers  can  take  up  (a)  village  allotments 
not  exceeding  one  acre  each,  at  a  cash  price  of  not 
less  than  £3  per  allotment;  (b)  Homestead  allot- 
ments of  from  1  to  100  acres  on  lease  in  perpetuity 
at  a  rental  of  4  per  cent.  Residence  and  improve- 
ments are  compulsory.  The  leases  cannot  be  seized 
for  debt  or  sold  on  bankruptcy ;  and  the  Government 


358  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

will  advance  money  for  houses,  clearing,  fences,  etc. 
In  1898  there  were  1500  settlers  holding  under  the 
village-settlement  system,  the  total  number  of  per- 
sons residing  on  the  3500  acres  taken  up  being  close 
on  5000.  The  Government  has  advanced  £25,000 
in  loans,  most  of  which  is  still  due ;  but  has  received 
in  return  as  rent  and  interest,  £32,000.  As  the  im- 
provements are  valued  at  £115,000,  the  Government 
may  be  considered  to  possess  adequate  security  for 
its  advances.  These  figures  seem  to  justify  the 
claim  made  by  Mr.  W.  P.  Reeves  that  the  village 
settlements  in  New  Zealand  have  been  "  a  striking 
and  permanent  success.  They  have  been  the  means 
of  attaching  to  the  soil  in  hope  and  comfort  some 
five  thousand  human  beings,  who  have  returned  to 
the  Treasury  in  rent,  interest  and  repayment  of 
principal  a  greater  sum  in  cash  than  the  total  amount 
advanced  to  them,  and  who  have  made  improvements 
on  their  holdings  of  more  than  four  times  the  value 
of  the  Government  loans."  * 

The  principle  of  restricting  the  area  which  any 
one  individual  may  hold  is  rigorously  applied  to  all 
purchases  of  land  from  the  Government  on  the  "  free 
selection "  system.  As  the  whole  object  of  "  free 
selection  "  under  the  present  Land  Act  is  the  encour- 
agement of  close  settlement,  it  is  obviously  both  fair 
and  expedient  that  the  wealthy  man  should  not  be 
able  to  appropriate  to  himself  large  areas;  if  he 
wants  to  acquire  a  large  estate  there  are  plenty  in 
the  market  belonging  to  private  owners  that  he  can 
choose  from.  Under  existing  conditions  the  price 
at  which  land  is  offered  is  fixed  for  ever;  and  as 
the  choice  of  a  selection  is  by  ballot,  the  poor  man 
has  an  equal  chance  with  the  rich  of  acquiring  land. 

*  Mr.  W.  P.  Reeves  in  the  National  Review,  June,  1898. 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       359 

The  act  defines  the  amount  of  land  any  one  may 
acquire  at  640  acres  of  first  class  and  2000  acres  of 
second  class  land,  inclusive  of  any  lands  he  may 
already  hold.  The  ingenious  attempts  often  made 
in  the  past  to  evade  restrictions  of  this  sort  by  get- 
ting additional  areas  in  the  names  of  relatives, 
agents  or  other  men  of  straw,  are  popularly 
known  as  "  Dummyism."  Such  attempts  may  be 
punished  by  fines,  forfeiture  or  even,  in  extreme 
eases,  imprisonment.  The  "  dummy "  was  the 
especial  bete  noire  of  the  minister  for  lands  in  the 
Seddon  administration — the  Hon.  John  MacKenzie 
• — throughout  his  parliamentary  career ;  and  his  vigo- 
rous onslaughts  on  the  "  dummy  "  have  practically 
led  to  the  extermination  of  the  species'. 

In  addition  to  the  Land  Act  of  1892  which  has  so 
far  been  referred  to,  there  is  also  on  the  Statute 
Book  a  law  known  as  the  "  Land  for  Settlements 
Act,"  and  the  provisions  of  this  have  long  been  a 
bone  of  contention  between  the  opposed  political 
parties.  Although  there  are  large  tracts  of  land  be- 
longing to  the  Crown  not  yet  settled  and  large  tracts 
belonging  to  the  aboriginal  natives  not  yet  acquired, 
there  is  already  a  dearth  of  crown  lands  available 
for  settlement  in  suitable  localities.  It  is  obviously 
impracticable  to  plant  a  "  village  settlement "  or  a 
"  small  farms'  association  "  in  the  midst  of  a  totara 
forest  or  among  the  hills  "  at  the  back  of  beyond," 
inaccessible  alike  by  rail  or  road.  It  is  obviously 
equally  impracticable  to  settle  a  colonial  mechanic 
or  an  immigrant  English  farmer,  inexperienced  in 
breaking  new  country,  on  bush-clad  or  prairie  land 
in  its  virgin  state.  Such  settlers  can  only  thrive  in 
the  vicinity  of  towns  and  markets  and  on  land  cap- 
able of  yielding  an  early  return  for  labour  spent  on 


360  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

it.  In.  order  that  the  Government  might  have  such 
lands  to  offer  on  "  free  selection "  the  "  Land  for 
Settlement  Act"  was  passed  in  1892-1894.  This 
Act  empowers  the  Government,  on  the  advice  of  an 
independent  Board  of  Land  Purchase  Commis- 
sioners, to  buy  such  estates  as  may  be  offered,  which 
are  considered  suitable  for  subdivision  and  close 
settlement.  At  the  present  time  the  Government  is 
empowered  to  expend  yearly  half-a-million  per  an- 
num in  such  purchases.  The  lands  thus  acquired 
are  surveyed,  subdivided,  and  roaded;  and  are  then 
leased  in  perpetuity  at  a  5  per  cent  rental  on  a 
capital  value  fixed  at  a  sufficient  rate  to  cover 
first  cost,  together  with  incidental  charges  of  admin- 
istration and  subdivision.  During  the  first  six  years 
in  which,  the  Act  was  in  operation — up  to  March 
31st,  1896 — the  purchases  completed  amounted  to 
49  estates,  of  a  total  area  of  154,624  acres,  costing, 
including  reading,  surveying  and  administration, 
£705,728.  The  whole  of  this  has  been  relet  with  the 
exception  of  15,000  odd  acres;  there  are  2,522  per- 
sons residing  on  the  property,  and  they  pay  an  an- 
nual rental  of  £34,000,  of  which  only  £1,363  was  in 
arrear.  It  is  claimed  that  the  total  rentals  bring 
in  4.85  per  cent  interest  on  the  outlay  and  that  the 
rentals  received  exceed  the  interest  paid  by  the  Gov- 
ernment on  the  purchase  money  by  £10,000  odd,  per 
annum.  So  far,  then,  it  would  seem  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Act  has  been  attended  with  success ;  but 
seasons  and  prices  have  alike  been  favourable  to  the 
experiment.  It  will  only  be  possible  to  form  an  ac- 
curate estimate  of  the  success  of  this  form  of  State- 
landlordism  after  the  Act  has  been  in  operation  over 
a  longer  period  of  years. 

An  amendment  introduced  into  the  Act  in  1894 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       361 

lias  given  rise  to  much  criticism  as  an  undue  inter- 
ference by  the  State  with  the  property  rights  of  the 
individual.  This  is  a  clause  providing  for  the  com- 
pulsory purchase  of  estates  in  cases  where  the  owner 
either  declines  to  sell,  or  where  an  agreement  can- 
not be  arrived  at  as  to  price.  Where  the  Governor 
in  Council  decides  that  the  acquisition  of  any  given 
estate  for  purposes  of  subdivision  is  desirable,  the 
Government  may  take  the  land  and  the  amount  to  be 
paid  to  the  owner  is  decided  by  a  Compensation 
Court  composed  of  a  supreme  court  judge  and  two 
assessors,  one  appointed  by  Government,  the  other 
by  the  owner.  Only  one  property  has  hitherto  been 
acquired  compulsorily.  The  attempt  to  acquire  an- 
other— the  Hatuma  Estate  in  the  North  Island — 
has  led  to  much  litigation  and  affords  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  evils  to  which  the  exercise  of  such 
powers  of  compulsory  purchase  may  lead.  Between 
the  estimates  of  the  two  assessors  there  is  a  difference 
of  £16,000;  and  the  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
who  presided  over  the  case  declared  his  inability 
to  decide,  on  the  conflicting  evidence,  as  to  the  dis- 
crepancy between  them.  He  declined  on  the  one 
hand  to  condemn  the  Government  to  pay  £16,000 
more  for  the  property  than  it  is  worth;  and  on  the 
other  to  rob  a  citizen  of  an  amount  equivalent  to  a 
competent  fortune.  It  is  fervently  to  be  hoped  that 
it  will  be  possible  for  the  Government  in  future 
to  pursue  their  admirable  land  policy  without  resort 
to  methods  that  savour  unpleasantly  of  tyranny  and 
oppression. 

But  the  most  striking  illustration  of  the  success 
of  the  Land  Settlement  policy  in  the  Colony  is  the 
purchase  by  the  Government  and  the  subsequent 
settlement  of  the  Cheviot  Estate.  This  constitutes 


362  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

perhaps  the  most  signal  benefit  the  present  adminis- 
tration has  conferred  upon  the  Colony. 

The  Cheviot  Estate  was  a  huge  sheep-run  of  some 
130  square  miles  in  area,  stretching  along  the  east 
coast  of  the  northern  part  of  the  South  Island.  It 
consisted  for  the  most  part  of  undulating,  "  down  " 
country,  well  grassed,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  its 
extent  exceedingly  fertile.  In  1893  the  owners  of 
"  Cheviot "  disputed  the  valuation  of  the  Land  Tax 
Commissioner.  He  had  assessed  it  for  the  purpose 
of  taxation  at  £304,000 ;  the  trustees  declared  it  was 
only  worth  £260,000.  A  useful  provision  exists  in 
the  Land  Tax  Act,  as  a  protection  against  over-val- 
uation, which  enables  the  owner  who  considers  his 
property  over-valued  by  the  Taxation  Commissioners 
to  compel  the  Government  either  to  reduce  the  valu- 
ation or  take  over  the  land  at  his  own  estimate. 
The  owners  of  the  Cheviot  Estate  called  upon  the 
Government  to  reduce  the  valuation  to  £260,000  or 
to  buy  at  their  price.  The  Hon.  John  MacKenzie, 
Minister  for  Lands,  decided  to  buy;  and  subsequent 
events  have  amply  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  decision. 
The  estate  was  bought  at  the  figure  named.  Some 
£43,000  additional  was  spent  in  surveying  the  land 
and  opening  it  UD  for  close  settlement.  Sixty-four 
miles  of  roads  were  constructed;  and  bridges  were 
built  over  the  streams  and  rivers  and  a  landing-serv- 
ice established  at  Port  Robinson.  In  the  course  of 
the  two  ensuing  years  the  whole  of  the  estate  was 
taken  up  by  settlers  with  the  exception  of  some  3000 
acres  of  reserves.  Some  was  sold  for  cash;  but  the 
greater  part  was  disposed  of  on  the  lease  in  perpetu- 
ity system.  The  total  outlay  was  some  £330,000; 
the  odd  £30,000  was  returned  by  sales;  and  on  the 
remainder  the  rents  received  pay  the  Government, 
it  is  claimed,  5  per  cent  interest. 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       363 

It  is  only  seven  years  since  the  estate  was  ac- 
quired. There  were  then  70  people  supported  on 
the  soil  and  70,000  sheep.  To-day  there  live  on  it 
17,000  human  beings  and  it  supports  183,000  sheep 
besides  5,000  or  more  cows  and  horses,  pigs,  poultry 
and  "  such  small  deer."  Seven  years  ago  "  Cheviot  " 
was  one  vast  sheep-run;  now  it  is  cut  up  into  close 
on  500  farms  and  village  homesteads;  a  prosperous 
yeomanry  have  replaced  the  handful  of  shepherds ; 
the  value  of  the  improvements  already  effected 
amounts  to  £63,274;  and  of  their  aggregate  annual 
rent  of  close  upon  £25,000  only  £188  is  at  present 
in  arrears.  Most  of  the  small  farms  on  Cheviot,  as 
elsewhere  in  New  Zealand,  are  "  mixed  farms " ; 
sheep-farming  and  dairy-farming  are  combined. 
Many  of  the  settlers  were  mechanics  and  shop- 
keepers ;  some  among  them  have  turned  out  "  duf- 
fers " ;  but  the  majority  with  proverbial  colonial 
adaptability  have  become  successful  yeomen.  At 
first  they  erected  rudely-thatched  mud  whares;  now 
the  country  side  glistens  with  the  galvanised  roofs 
of  weather-board  cottages,  set  in  trim,  well-fenced, 
well-kept  gardens  and  "  paddocks."  There  are 
three  schools  on  the  estate ;  the  township  of  "  Mac- 
Kenzie "  is  a  thriving  village  which  already  pos- 
sesses a  town  hall  erected  by  public  subscription ;  a 
church;  and  all  the  other  adjuncts  of  the  average 
New  Zealand  "  township  "  except  a  public-house. 

As  yet  the  settlement  suffers  from  inadequate 
means  of  exporting  the  produce ;  but  the  first  sod  of 
the  Cheviot  railway  has  already  been  turned;  the 
Government  expresses  itself  determined  to  push  on 
the  work;  and  before  long  Cheviot  will  probably  be 
in  direct  communication  with  Port  Lyttleton. 

An  important  element  in  promoting  this  rapid 


304:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

progress  of  land  settlement  has  been  the  operation  of 
the  "  Government  Advances  to  Settlers  Office." 
This  is  a  state  system  of  Credit  Fonder  introduced 
by  legislation  in  1894.  A  serious  obstacle  to  agri- 
cultural progress  was  the  high  rates  of  interest  and 
the  heavy  mortgage  charges  prevailing  in  the  Colony. 
Many  of  the  settlers  were  seriously  encumbered ;  the 
prices  of  produce  had  fallen  considerably;  but  they 
were  still  paying  rates  of  interest  at  6,  7,  8  or,  in 
some  cases,  even  a  higher  rate  to  the  loan  companies 
or  private  money  lenders  from  whom  they  had  re- 
ceived advances.  The  credit  of  the  colony  in  the 
English  money-market  had  steadily  improved;  it 
seemed  feasible  for  the  Government  to  borrow  money 
in  the  London  market  and  relend  it  to  New  Zealand 
farmers  at  rates  much  lower  than  those  ruling  and 
yet  make  no  loss  on  the  transaction.  The  Advances 
to  Settlers  Act  was  accordingly  passed.  It  em- 
powered the  raising  of  a  loan  of  £3,000,000  at  a  rate 
not  higher  than  4  per  cent  and  devised  a  scheme  for 
advancing  it  to  settlers  on  first  class  mortgages  of 
lands  occupied  for  farming,  dairying  or  market- 
gardening  purposes.  These  loans  were  to  bear  in- 
terest at  5  per  cent;  and  were  not  to  exceed  in 
amount  60  per  cent  of  the  realisable  value  of  the 
security  in  case  of  freehold,  and  5  per  cent  of  the 
lessee's  interest  in  case  of  leasehold.  In  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Act  £1,500,000  was 
raised  on  a  3  per  cent  loan,  the  average  price  being 
£94  per  cent.  Subsequently  an  additional  half-mil- 
lion was  raised ;  but  the  demand  for  the  third  mil- 
lion authorised  by  the  Act  has  not  yet  arisen,  prob- 
ably because  the  fall  in  the  general  rate  of  interest 
concurrent  with,  and  as  the  Government  maintain, 
consequent  upon,  the  operation  of  the  Act,  has  led  to 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       365 

fewer  applications  under  the  system  than  were  antic- 
ipated. Loans  to  settlers  range  from  £250  to  £3,000. 
On  these  they  pay  half-yearly  instalments  of  £3  for 
every  £100  of  loan;  of  this  six  per  cent,  five  per 
cent  is  interest  on  the  capital  lent,  one  per  cent  goes 
to  a  sinking  fund,  and  the  loan  is  extinguished  in 
73  half  yearly  payments,  that  is  to  say  at  the  ex- 
piration of  36^  years.  The  borrower  may,  however, 
at  any  time,  pay  off  the  balance  of  the  loan  or  make 
partial  payments  of  £5  or  multiples  of  £5  towards 
its  extinction.  An  amending  act  provides  also  for 
"  fixed  loans  "  for  periods  not  exceeding  ten  years, 
which  are  repayable  without  sinking  fund  at  the 
end  of  the  term  and  bear  interest  at  5  per  cent.  The 
advantages  the  system  offers  to  settlers  are  briefly 
these:  the  rate  of  interest  charged  is  lower  than  that 
which  was  generally  paid  at  the  coming  into  opera- 
tion of  the  Act;  there  are  no  procuration  fees;  the 
charges  for  valuation,  and  for  preparing  and  regis- 
tering mortgages  are  exceedingly  moderate,  amount- 
ing, in  the  case  of  loans  under  £500,  only  to  £2^ 
16s.  in  all;  the  loan  is  automatically  extinguished  in 
a  generation  or  may  be  paid  off  at  any  time  in  a 
lump  sum.  The  act  has  been  in  operation  since 
February,  1895.  Up  till  the  31&t  of  March,  1899, 
advances  had  been  made  to  6,222  applicants,  amountr 
ing  in  the  aggregate  to  £1,700,000;  for  these  the 
securities  were  valued  at  close  upon  £4,000,000.  It 
is  significant  that  63  per  cent  of  the  total  amount 
applied  for  was  required  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
off  existing  mortgages  bearing  a  higher  rate  than 
5  per  cent. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  its  history  New  Zealand 
was  almost  exclusively  a  sheep-growing  country; 
and  wool  and  mutton  are  still  so  far  its  most  impor- 


S66  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

tant  products,  that  they  are  responsible  for  over  60 
per  cent  of  its  total  exports.  Soil  and  climate  com- 
bine to  make  it  one  of  the  most  suitable  parts  of  the 
world  for  sheep-farming.  It  is  equally  free  from 
the  long  and  severe  winters  of  the  mother-country 
and  the  parching  droughts  of  its  sister  colonies  on 
the  Australian  Continent.  In  the  North  Island, 
sheep  will  thrive  the  whole  year  round  on  native 
grasses ;  and  the  sheep  on  many  runs  receive  no  other 
care  beyond  the  annual  mustering  for  lamb-marking 
and  shearing.  In  the  South  Island,  the  supplying  of 
winter  feed  requires  more  attention;  and  there  are 
occasional  years  in  which  the  losses  consequent  upon, 
a  rigorous  winter  are  heavy.  But  in  three  essentials 
of  successful  sheep-farming — low  cost  of  production 
of  mutton,  high  average  clip,  and  large  rate  of  in- 
crease,— New  Zealand  is  peculiarly  favoured.  Un- 
der ordinary  conditions  the  very  choicest  mutton  can 
be  produced  so  as  to  pay  the  grower  handsomely  at 
2d.  per  lb.,  at  the  nearest  shipping  port,  which  means, 
ex-steamer  at  a  London  dock,  only  3^d.  per  lb.  The 
average  clips  vary  from  4  Ibs.  to  7  Ibs.  for  Merinos 
to  11  Ibs.  for  Lincolns,  while  special  flocks  will  yield 
as  much  as  25  Ibs.  to  30  Ibs.  per  sheep.  The  lamb- 
ing average  all  over  the  colony  is,  considering  the 
little  care  bestowed  upon  housing  or  feeding  the 
ewes,  remarkably  high.  In  paddocks  an  increase  of 
100  to  125  per  cent  is  not  uncommon  in  favourable 
seasons;  while  on  hill  and  unimproved  country  it 
varies  from  45  to  80  per  cent. 

The  flocks  of  the  colony  have  increased  from  !•£ 
million  sheep  in  1858  to  over  20  million  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  Before  1882  wool  was  the  chief  consider- 
ation, the  surplus  stock  finding  its  way  into  the  boil- 
ing down  vats,  tallow  and  pelts  being  the  only  prod- 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       3G7 

nets  of  value.  Since  that  date,  however,  the  mar- 
vellous expansion  of  the  frozen  meat  industry  has 
revolutionised  sheep-farming  in  the  colony.  The 
rapid  growth  of  the  industry,  started  by  the  settlers 
themselves  who  formed  the  original  freezing  com- 
panies, is  a  splendid  triumph  of  private  enterprise. 

In  1882  the  first  trial  shipment,  comprising  under 
9,000  carcases,  was  made  from  this  colony.  Its 
complete  success  led  to  the  almost  simultaneous  erec- 
tion of  freezing  works  in  Dunedin,  Christchurch, 
Wellington,  Napier,  and  Auckland;  and  from  that 
time  the  history  of  the  trade  has  been  one  continued 
advance.  In  the  year  when  New  Zealand  sent  its 
tentative  shipment  of  mutton  to  England,  the  Aus- 
tralian continent  sent  57,000  carcases.  In  1898, 
sixteen  years  after,  the  export  from  this  colony 
amounted  to  2,700,000  carcases,  or  close  upon  two- 
thirds  of  the  total  imports  into  England.  Though 
the  colony  has  now  powerful  competitors  in  the  Aus- 
tralian Commonwealth  and  the  Argentine  Republic, 
she  is  well  able  to  hold  her  own ;  nor  has  the  annual 
export  of  frozen  mutton  as  yet  taxed  her  producing 
powers ;  for  never  in  the  history  of  the  colony  have 
the  flocks  increased  so  rapidly  as  since  the  inception 
of  the  frozen-meat  trade. 

There  are  now  21  freezing-works  in  New  Zealand, 
with  a  full  freezing  capacity  of  3^  million  sheep  per 
annum.  "  The  collateral  industries  which  are  car- 
ried on  in  connection  with  these  are  scarcely  less  im- 
portant than  the  freezing  itself.  Side  by  side  with 
the  latter  are  to  be  found  tallow-works,  fell- 
mongeries,  meat-tinning  works,  oil-and-manure 
works.  At  some  establishments  absolutely  nothing 
is  thrown  away,  and  all  waste  matter  is  converted 
into  manure.  As  the  whole  of  this  manure  is  sold 


368  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

in  New  Zealand,  every  part  of  the  slaughtered 
animals  which  is  not  required  for  export  goes  back 
to  renovate  the  soil  and  is  thus  made  to  play  its 
proper  part  in  the  great  economy  of  nature." 

Indirectly,  too,  the  frozen  meat  industry  has  had 
far-reaching  influence  on  the  development  of  the 
colony's  resources ;  for  it  led  to  the  establishment  of 
direct  steam  communication  with  England.  Before 
its  inauguration,  all  the  Home-trade  of  the  colony 
was  carried  in  sailing-vessels,  their  voyages  averaging 
from  3  to  4  months.  Now  there  is  a  fortnightly 
steamer  service,  occupying  from  six  to  seven  weeks, 
between  the  colony  and  the  mother-land.  The  New 
Zealand  Shipping  Company  was  the  first  to  estab- 
lish a  direct  Steam-service  in  order  to  meet  the  de- 
mand of  the  frozen  meat  trade.  There  are  now 
three  other  Companies  in  the  field;  and  thirty-six 
vessels,  thirty  of  them  steamers,  are  employed  in  the 
trade,  their  total  carrying  capacity  being  about  three 
million  sheep  per  annum. 

The  industry  came  into  existence  at  a  time  when 
wool  and  wheat  were  ruinously  low  in  price  and 
when  the  colony  was-  suffering  from  acute  commer- 
cial depression.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
settlers  who  had  the  enterprise  and  courage  to 
initiate  and  carry  to  success  this  new  department  of 
industrial  and  commercial  activity  "  saved  the  re- 
public "  and  deserve  well  at  the  hands  of  the  state. 

The  soil  in  most  parts  of  the  colony  is  well  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  grasses  and  cereals.  Though  the 
area  of  the  colony  is  only  1-3  Oth  of  that  of  the  Aus- 
tralian Continent  its  acreage  in  sown  grasses  is  30 
times  "as  great.  On  forest  clearings  in  the  North 
leland,  where  the  felled  timber  has  been  destroyed 
by  fire,  the  best  pasture-grasses  will  thrive  with 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.  339 

no  other  preparation  than  scattering  the  seed  on  the 
ash-covered  soil; — the  stumps  of  the  trees  making 
ploughing  impossible — and,  in  less  than  a  year  from 
the  date  of  scattering,  the  land  will  fatten  five  to  six 
sheep  per  acre.  Most  of  the  cereal  crops,  too,  on 
suitable  lands,  give  higher  returns  than  are  obtained 
anywhere  in  the  Empire  except  in  England  itself. 

Wheat  and  oats  are  the  principal  grain-crops 
raised  in  the  colony.  The  chief  wheat-district  is 
the  Canterbury  Plain,  a  tract  of  flat  or  undulating 
country,  on  the  East  Coast  of  the  South  Island,  some 
150  miles  in  length,  forming  an  area  of  over 
3,000,000  acres.  The  pioneer  settler  found  it  cov- 
ered with  native  grass  and  tussock ;  he  had  no  forests 
to  fell,  and  the  land  presented  no  impediments  to  his 
plough.  It  is  well  watered  and  prolonged  or  severe 
droughts  are  unknown;  in  an  especially  dry  season 
there  is  an  agitation  got  up  for  irrigating  the  plains, 
but  interest  in  the  question  is  not  great  because  the 
necessity  is  not  pressing.  In  time,  no  doubt,  an  ir- 
rigation scheme  will  be  carried  out — legislation  has 
already  prepared  the  way  for  it — and  this  must 
vastly  increase  the  productiveness  of  the  already 
rich  plain.  In  the  meanwhile  Canterbury  farmers 
are  content  to  receive,  at  an  outlay  of  some  £2  per 
acre,  an  average  crop  of  30  bushels  of  wheat. 

During  the  year  1899  the  total  wheat  crop  of  the 
colony  amounted  to  13  million  bushels,  and  of  this 
Canterbury  produced  8  million.  The  total  crop  of 
oats  amounted  to  11  million  bushels,  and  of  this 
the  more  southern  province  of  Otago  contributed  8 
million.  The  average  yield  of  this  crop  is  from  40 
to  80  bushels  per  acre  and  the  cost  of  production 
about  the  same  as  wheat.  In  the  Auckland  province 
maize  is  rapidly  becoming  a  very  important  crop. 


370  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

close  on  a  million  bushels  being  annually  produced, 
at  the  good  average  of  44  bushels  per  acre.  Hops, 
potatoes,  turnips,  grass-seed,  and  fruits  are  crops  to 
which  settlers  turn  their  attention  with  varying  suc- 
cess ;  but  these  have  not  yet  become  important  items 
in  our  exports. 

Almost  as  remarkable  as  the  development  of  the 
frozen  meat  industry,  has  been  the  expansion  of  Co- 
operative dairy-farming  during  the  present  decade. 
While  freezing,  however,  owed  its  inception  and 
progress  entirely  to  the  private  enterprise  of  the 
settlers,  dairying  in  the  colony  owes  not  a  lit- 
tle of  its  success  to  the  fostering  care  of  the 
Government.  As  early  as  1882  the  Government 
brought  Co-operative  dairying  into  existence  by 
the  offer  of  a  bonus  of  £500  for  the  first  50 
tons  of  cheese  produced  on  the  factory  system. 
During  the  past  ten  years  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture has  devoted  itself  vigorously  to  the  work  of 
educating  the  farmers  in  scientific  methods,  facilitat- 
ing the  transit  and  export  of  their  produce,  and  im- 
proving the  quality  and  uniformity  of  the  output. 
European  experts  in  the  employ  of  the  Department 
tour  the  colony  giving  experimental  instruction  in 
the  manufacture  of  butter  and  cheese;  pamphlets 
and  "  dairy-bulletins  "  are  sent  out  to  farmers  peri- 
odically and  serve  a  useful  educational  purpose;  all 
butter  and  cheese  intended  for  export  have  to  be 
sent  to  Government  cool-stores  to  be  graded;  and  a 
Produce  Commissioner  in  London  attends  to  the 
interests  of  trade  when  the  goods  reach  the  English 
market.  In  thus  following  out  Danish  methods, 
the  Government  has  done  much  to  place  !N"ew  Zea- 
land dairy-produce  on  the  footing  of  successful 
competition  with  the  Danish  output. 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  LAND  SETTLEMENT.       371 

The  dairy-farmer  in  the  colony  has  many  natural 
•advantages  in  his  favour.  He  is  saved  much  labour 
in  not  having  to  grow  feed  or  care  for  his  cows  under 
cover  for  a  long  season:  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  the  colony,  cattle  are  never  stabled  during  the 
winter  months.  Our  Antipodean  seasons  make  it 
possible  for  the  farmer  to  supply  fresh  grass- 
made  butter  during  the  European  winter-months; 
and  the  improvements  effected  in  cool-storage  and 
transit  enable  the  produce  to  be  landed  in  good 
condition  and  at  small  cost  in  the  English  mar- 
ket. The  institution  of  Co-operative  Factories 
has  greatly  improved  dairy-produce  both  in  qual- 
ity and  economy  of  production.  They  return 
to  the  milk-supplier  the  full  value  of  his  milk, 
less  the  actual  cost  of  manufacturing  the  produce; 
they  give  the  small  farmer  what  he  most  ap- 
preciates— ready  cash;  and  as  the  shares  in  the 
factories  are  for  the  most  part  owned  by  the  settlers 
themselves,  profits  and  losses  are  evenly  distributed 
over  the  district.  The  progress  of  the  industry  may 
be  judged  from  the  fact  that  the  number  of  cattle 
in  the  colony  has  increased  from  831,831  in  1891 
to  1,203,024  in  1899 ;  there  are  at  the  present  time 
222  Butter  and  Cheese  factories  in  the  Colony;  the 
export  of  butter  amounted  in  the  year  1898-9  to 
102,481  cwt,  and  of  cheese  to  50,490  cwt. — of  a 
total  value  of  over  half-a-million. 

New  Zealand  approaches  very  closely  to  an  ideal 
farmer's  country.  It  is  endowed  by  ISTature  with  a 
fertile  soil  and  a  humid  climate;  it  is  free  from 
severe  extremes  of  heat  or  cold ;  and  it  is  exempt 
alike  from  parching  droughts  or  disastrous  floods. 
Wages,  it  is  true,  are  higher  than  in  Britain ;  but  on 
the  other  hand  the  farmer  has  a  much  larger  prop  or- 


372  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

tion  of  fine  working-days  in  the  year;  he  is  at  less 
expense  in  housing  his  stock  or  supplying  his  winter 
feed.  Sheep  are  practically  free  from  contagious 
disease;  and  the  most  serious  pest  the  agriculturist 
has  to  contend  with  is  the  small-birds'  nuisance.  He 
is  nowhere  far  from  the  seaboard,  and  the  opening 
up  of  the  country  by  roads  and  railways  gives  him 
yearly  increasing  facilities  for  the  cheap  carriage 
of  his  produce  to  the  shipping  ports.  Men  with 
slender  means  can  easily  make  homes  for  themselves 
and  their  families  if  they  are  willing  to  work  hard 
and  live  frugally  for  a  few  years ;  and  it  is  probably 
fair  to  claim  that  New  Zealand  is  not  surpassed  by 
any  British  possession  as  a  country  for  yeomen.* 

*  The  writer  desires  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to 
pamphlets  and  papers  published  under  Government  author- 
ity, by  Mr.  M.  Murphy  F.L.S.  on  "  Agriculture  ;  "  Mr.  T.  A. 
Johnstone  on  "Sheep-Farming";  Mr.  Dilnot  Sladden  on 
"  The  Frozen-Meat  Trade,"  and  Mr.  John  Sawers,  Chief 
Dairy  Instructor,  on  "  The  Dairy  Industry.1* 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION.  373 


CHAPTEK  XXVII. 

THE  PEOGEESS  OP  EDUCATION. 

ZEALAND  is  justly  proud  of  its  national 
system  of  education.  Under  it  the  State  undertakes 
the  training  of  over  ninety  per  cent  of  the  children 
of  the  colony.  Liberal  provision  has  been  made, 
both  by  the  Provincial  and  the  General  Government, 
for  primary  and  secondary  schools  and  for  university 
colleges ;  and  as  a  result  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
work  of  educating  the  young  is  left  either  to  private 
enterprise  or  private  benevolence. 

Before  their  abolition,  each  of  the  provincial  gov- 
ernments had  made  some  sort  of  provision  for  pri- 
mary education  in  its  district.  These  provincial 
systems  differed  greatly  both  in  character  and  ef- 
ficiency. Most  of  them  were  denominational: 
schools  under  the  partial  control  of  different  relig- 
ious denominations  were  subsidised  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  a  school  rate.  The  system  in  vogue  in  the 
Nelson  province  was  the  best;  that  in  Auckland 
the  worst.  In  Nelson,  Otago  and  Canterbury  the 
results  attained  were  satisfactory.  In  some  of  the 
other  districts  the  standard  of  attainment  was  ex- 
ceedingly low;  the  system  of  inspection  often  a 
farce;  and  many  of  the  so-called  schoolmasters  in 
country  districts  scallywags  who  had  failed  in  other 
callings. 

In  18YT  the  Government  passed  an  Education  Act 
for  the  whole  colony  which  swept  away  the  denomi- 


374      PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

national  systems  in  the  provincial  districts  and  sub- 
stituted a  uniform  scheme  of  "  free,  secular,  and 
compulsory  education."  The  name  of  Mr.  Charles 
Christopher  Bowen,  at  the  time  Minister  of  Justice 
in  the  Atkinson  Cabinet,  will  always  be  honourably 
remembered  in  the  history  of  the  colony  as  the  intro- 
ducer and,  in  great  measure,  the  f  ramer  of  this  Bill. 
As  first  drafted,  the  Bill  contained  provision  for 
opening  school  every  morning  with  the  reading  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  and  a  portion  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. But  this  clause  raised  a  war  of  sects ;  and  the 
Act,  as  finally  passed,  provided  a  system  of  education 
purely  secular. 

Attendance  is  compulsory  between  the  ages  of  7 
and  13.  No  fees  are  charged,  the  cost  of  school- 
books  being  the  only  direct  charge  on  the  parent. 
The  syllabus  is  divided  into  six  standards,  the  sub- 
jects taught  being  "  the  three  R's  "  with  the  addition 
of  English  grammar,  history,  geography,  elementary 
science  and  drawing.  Girls  are  taught  sewing  and 
the  principles  of  domestic  economy;  boys  are  in- 
structed in  military  drill.  The  administration  of 
the  Act  is  entrusted  to  eight  district  Boards,  who 
receive  from  the  Central  Government  a  capitation 
grant  of  £3,  15s.  per  head  of  average  attendance,  to- 
gether with  an  additional  Is.  6d.  to  form  a  scholar- 
ship fund,  and  an  annual  allotment  for  building  pur- 
poses. Teachers  are  paid  on  average  attendance; 
the  scale  of  remuneration  varies  in  different  educa- 
tion districts,  but  it  is  nowhere  high — only  four 
teachers  in  the  colony  receive  over  £400  a  year ;  and 
the  average  remuneration  is  under  £100  per  annum 
— considerably  less  than  the  average  pay  of 
mechanics. 

The  teaching  given  in  these  schools,  especially  in 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION.  075 

the  "  three  R's,"  is  extremely  good  on  the  whole.  A 
too  rigid  system  of  classification  has  tended  to  pro- 
duce mechanical  results;  but  this  has  now  been  re- 
laxed and  freedom  of  classification  is  allowed  the 
teacher  up  to  the  third  standard.  This  will  probably 
lead  to  the  age  at  which  children  pass  the  standards 
being  raised ;  more  time  will  be  allowed  for  the  true 
work  of  education  as  distinct  from  "  cramming  "  for 
Inspectors'  results;  the  teacher  will  become  some- 
thing more  than  an  educational  machine;  and  the 
more  he  is  trusted,  become  more  worthy  the  trust. 

The  literary  and  scientific  attainments  of  the 
average  teacher  leave  much  to  be  desired.  Many  of 
them  are  cultured  men  and  women;  there  are  prob- 
ably more  university  graduates  engaged  in  primary 
instruction  here  than  in  England;  and  of  the  2,500 
teachers  in  the  service  more  than  ninety  per  cent 
hold  Certificates.  But  the  requirements  for  the 
lowest  of  these  certificates  (they  range  from  A  1  to 
E  5)  are  exceedingly  meagre;  the  non-technical  sub- 
jects could  be  passed  with  ease  by  a  middle-form  boy 
in  a  good  secondary  school.  The  E  certificate  is 
guarantee  of  little  knowledge  and  less  culture,  and 
unfortunately  the  list  of  certificated  teachers  is  like 
a  compositor's  "  frame " — the  E's  predominate. 
There  are  but  two  training  colleges  in  the  colony, 
with  some  80  students  between  them;  but  Univer- 
sity lectures  are  largely  attended  by  teachers  em- 
ployed in  the  vicinity  of  the  four  principal  towns; 
and  the  standard  of  attainments  in  the  profession 
is  distinctly  rising. 

This  system  of  National  Education  is  prized  by 
the  people  of  the  colony  as  their  most  valued  institu- 
tion. For  many  years,  both  in  and  out  of  Parlia- 
ment, efforts  were  made  to  have  some  sort  of  relig- 


376  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ious  teaching  introduced  into  the  schools.  But 
public  opinion  was  averse  to  any  step  that  threat- 
ened, however  remotely,  a  return  to  the  old  denomi- 
national system;  and  the  agitation  for  religious  in- 
struction in  State  schools  has  for  some  years  past 
ceased  to  be  a  practical  political  question.  The 
Roman  Catholic  colonists  do  not  as  a  rule  send  their 
children  to  the  state  schools,  preferring  to  support 
Church  schools  of  their  own :  thus  paying  their  pro- 
portion of  taxes  for  the  education  of  Protestant 
children  in  addition  to  the  burden  of  paying  fees  for 
the  education  of  their  own.  The  hardship  of  this 
is  frankly  recognised ;  but  all  proposals  to  remedy  it 
by  state  grants  to  Catholic  Schools  are  defeated  as 
"  the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge  "  of  denominationalism. 
The  improvement  in  the  degree  of  Education  in  the 
colony  since  the  Act  came  into  force  is  strikingly 
shown  by  the  census  statistics.  In  1878,  69  per 
cent  of  the  population  were  returned  as  able  to  read 
and  write ;  in  1896  the  number  had  risen  to  80. 
Before  the  Act  came  into  force  the  number  of 
children  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15  who  could  not 
read,  varied  from  44  per  cent  in  Nelson  to  59  per 
cent  in  Canterbury.  Twenty  years  after  the  Act 
came  into  operation,  of  children  at  the  age  period, 
10-15  years,  as  many  as  98.73  per  cent  were  able  to 
read  and  write.  Before  another  generation  is 
passed  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  education,  tested  by 
ability  to  read  and  write,  will  be  practically  uni- 
versal in  the  Colony. 

Possibly  because  of  the  excellence  and  popularity 
of  the  primary  schools,  the  number  of  children  re- 
ceiving secondary  education  in  the  colony  is  com- 
paratively not  large.  There  are  25  secondary 
schools  more  or  less  directly  under  state  con- 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION.  377 

trol.  Two  of  these  are  church  foundations;  the 
rest  are  supported  by  endowments  set  aside  by 
the  old  provincial  government  or  by  direct  state 
grants.  Less  than  three  thousand  pupils  attend 
them  as  against  132,000  in  the  primary  schools. 
These  schools  are  not  "  free " — the  fees  range 
from  six  to  fourteen  guineas  a  year — and  they 
are  only  nominally  "  secular  " — in  most  cases  school 
is  opened  with  prayer.  The  standard  of  education 
in  classics  and  mathematics  is  probably  not  so  high 
as  in  English  schools  of  the  same  class;  Greek,  for 
example,  is  rarely  taught ;  but  the  "  English  "  sub- 
jects receive  correspondingly  more  attention,  and 
science  is  an  important  branch  of  the  curriculum, 
all  the  larger  schools  having  well-equipped  Chemical 
and  Physical  laboratories. 

The  University  of  New  Zealand  was  brought  into 
existence  in  the  year  1870  by  an  act  of  the  Colonial 
Parliament  constituting  it  and  by  a  Royal  Charter 
conferring  upon  it  the  right  to  grant  the  degrees 
of  Bachelor,  Master,  and  Doctor,  in  Arts,  Science, 
Law,  Music  and  Medicine;  these  academic  distinc- 
tions "  shall  be  entitled  to  rank,  precedence  and  con- 
sideration in  our  United  Kingdom  and  in  our 
Colonies  and  possessions  throughout  the  world,  as 
fully  as  if  the  said  degrees  had  been  granted  by 
any  university  of  our  said  United  Kingdom."  The 
University  so  constituted  is  an  examining  institution 
consisting  of  a  governing  body  called  the  Senate  and 
an  advisory  board  of  its  own  graduates  called  Con- 
vocation. Both  are  peripatetic,  their  annual  ses- 
sions being  held  in  rotation  in  each  of  the  four 
centres  of  population.  The  standard  required  for 
its  degrees  will  compare  favourably  with  those  in 
other  Colonial  Universities;  and  the  distinctions  it 


378  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

confers  derive  an  added  value  from  the  fact  that  its 
examinations  are  conducted  by  eminent  Professors 
in  the  Universities  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The 
delay  necessitated  by  sending  the  papers  of  candi- 
dates to  England  to  be  examined  and  the  further 
delay  before  the  results  can  be  received  in  the  Colony 
are  undoubtedly  an  inconvenience.  On  one  occa- 
sion, too,  the  mail  steamer  carrying  the  papers  to 
England  was  wrecked  and  the  hard-won  knowledge 
of  some  four  hundred  students,  duly  confided  to 
many  reams  of  foolscap,  is  at  present  lying  in  the 
ocean  near  Cape  Horn  "  suffering  a  sea-change  into 
something  rich  and  strange/'  But  students  cheer- 
fully acquiesce  in  such  inconveniences  for  the  sake 
of  the  prestige  enjoyed  by  the  degrees  from  being 
thus  endorsed  by  eminent  scholars  in  older  Uni- 
versities. 

But  though  the  University  itself  is  merely  an 
examining  body,  there  are  associated  with  it  four 
"  Affiliated  Colleges  " — one  at  each  of  the  chief 
centres  of  population  in  the  colony.  At  these  there 
are  at  present  close  upon  one  thousand  undergradu- 
ates "  keeping  terms  "  in  preparation  for  degrees ; 
and  the  number  of  graduates  on  the  roll  of  the  Uni- 
versity has  already  reached  694.  The  majority  of 
these  are  engaged  in  teaching ;  but  a  good  proportion 
of  members  of  the  legal,  medical  and  journalistic 
professions  are  also  alumni  of  the  young  University. 
Of  the  four  affiliated  Colleges,  that  in  the  province 
of  Otago  is  the  oldest,  having  been  founded  as  a 
separate  University  as  early  as  1869;  Canterbury 
College  in  Christchurch  was  established  in  1879; 
Auckland  University  College  in  1886 ;  and  Victoria 
College,  Wellington,  in  1897.  All  of  these  are  non- 
residential,  resembling  in  this  respect  Scotch  rather 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION.  379 

than  English  Universities;  they  are  essentially 
"  popular "  institutions,  the  great  majority  of  the 
students  belonging  to  the  lower  and  middle  classes  of 
the  people.  The  fees  are  so  moderate  that  a  Uni- 
versity education  is  within  reach  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  people  of  very  small  means,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  graduates  spring  from  the  working 
classes.  Technical  schools  exist  in  connection  with 
several  of  the  Colleges.  In  Otago  there  is  a  School 
of  Medicine  and  a  School  of  Mines;  in  connection 
with  Canterbury  College  there  are  Schools  of  Agri- 
culture, Engineering  and  Music.  In  all,  good  pro- 
vision is  made  for  practical  instruction  in  natural 
and  experimental  Science;  Latin  and  Mathematics 
are  compulsory  subjects  in  all  the  degrees;  but 
Greek  is  scarcely  taught  at  all;  and  in  none  of  the 
Colleges  is  sufficient  attention  given  to  History  and 
Economics.  English  Language  and  Literature  re- 
ceives on  the  other  hand  more  prominence  than  is 
given  to  it  in  the  curricula  of  most  Universities  in 
the  United  Kingdom.  From  the  outset,  the  ISTew 
Zealand  University  has  made  no  distinction  in  its 
degrees  between  women  and  men.  About  one-third 
of  its  students  are  women ;  and  the  names  of  women 
are  found  in  the  same  proportion  in  its  lists  of  grad- 
uates, scholars,  prize-winners  and  "  Honours  "  stu- 
dents. It  was  the  first  University  in  the  Empire  to 
confer  a  degree  on  a  woman;  and  in  the  competi- 
tion for  its  honours  and  distinctions  women  have 
proved  themselves  at  least  equally  successful  with, 
men.  The  majority  of  the  lady-graduates  engage 
in  teaching;  some  few  enter  journalism  and  two  or 
three  are  in  active  practice  as  barristers  and  doctors ; 
but  for  a  long  time  to  come  the  profession  of  teach- 


380  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ing  will  be  the  chief  field  for  employment  of  colo- 
nial girl  graduates. 

The  professors  in  the  College  have  in  most  cases 
been  brought  out  from  English,  Scotch  or  Irish  Uni- 
versities. Only  one  chair  and  two  or  three  small 
lectureships  have  so  far  been  filled  by  graduates  of 
the  New  Zealand  University.  Until  the  University 
sees  its  way  to  provide  a  post-graduation  course  or 
to  establish  a  system  of  "  over-sea  "  scholarships  by 
which  its  graduates  may  continue  their  education  in 
the  Universities  of  the  old  world,  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  custom  of  importing  its  professors  will  cease 
for  a  long  time. 

Education  in  all  its  branches  is  probably  more 
accessible  to  the  people  in  New  Zealand  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  A  liberal  scheme  of 
scholarships  enables  a  youth  of  exceptional  ability 
to  proceed  from  the  primary  schools  to  the  secondary 
and  from  these  to  the  University  with  little  or  no 
cost  to  the  parents.  There  are  many  students  who 
from  the  age  of  twelve  to  twenty-one  have  been  en- 
tirely supported  by  scholarships,  the  total  amounts 
thus  earned  amounting  in  some  cases  to  as  much  as 
£700,  and  the  enthusiasm  for  education  in  the  colony 
is  at  least  equal  to  the  facilities  for  it. 

So  far  as  the  younger  generation  of  New  Zea- 
landers  is  concerned,  they  will  compare,  from  an 
educational  point  of  view,  more  than  favourably  with 
Englishmen  of  the  same  class  elsewhere.  In  spite 
of  the  charges  of  "  cramming "  repeatedly  made, 
against  this  as  against  all  other  systems  of  education, 
the  young  New  Zealander  is  as  a  rule  intelligent 
and  well-informed.  There  is  a  newspaper  of  some 
sort  for  every  1,500  of  adult  population;  and  every 
village  in  the  colony  has  its  state-aided  public  li- 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  EDUCATION.  381 

brary;  and  of  the  people  who  marry,  only  about 
one-half  per  cent  sign  the  register  by  mark.  The 
ignorant  "  yokel "  is  practically  unknown  in  New 
Zealand;  and  it  is  probably  fair  to  say  that  there 
is  no  part  of  the  British  dominions  where  education 
is  so  widely  diffused 


382  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTEK  XXVin. 

ART,,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE. 

THESE  things  in  New  Zealand  are  only  in  their 
beginnings  and  the  beginnings  are  small.  The 
colonist  is  fond  of  pictures — but  he  imports  them 
from  Home.  He  reads  books  and  magazines  in 
plenty — but  they  are  by  English  writers.  There  is 
probably  a  higher  average  of  culture  in  New  Zea- 
land than  in  England,  but  it  is  English  culture.  As 
yet  it  would  be  rash  to  say  there  is  anything  dis- 
tinctively national  either  in  the  art  or  literature  of 
the  Colony.  There  is  no  leisured  class;  there  is 
no  metropolis.  Art  and  Literature  have  therefore 
not  yet  become  remunerative  professions.  Many 
native-born  have  already  made  their  mark  in  both; 
but  to  do  so  they  have  had  to  leave  the  Colony  in 
order  to  find  those  two  essentials  of  success — models 
and  a  market. 

New  Zealand  with  its  wealth  of  natural  beauty, 
"  garlanded  grand  with  its  forests  of  Kauri,"  a  land 
of  rugged  white-clad  ranges,  of  winding  fiords  and 
glacier  torrents,  will  one  day  become  the  home  of  a 
great  school  of  landscape  painters.  Already  its 
beauties  have  inspired  much  good,  sound  work. 
John  Gully  of  Nelson  was  the  pioneer  of  painting 
in  the  Colony;  and  his  water-colour  sketches  find 
honourable  place  in  the  galleries  of  the  neighbour- 
ing colonies'.  Others  after  him  have  done  merito- 
rious work  both  in  water-colour  and  oils.  But  with 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  383 

the  exception  of  small  collections  in  the  local  gal- 
leries of  the  chief  towns  they  have  no  great  master- 
pieces to  guide  them.  The  "  schools  of  art "  estab- 
lished in  the  Colony  are  almost  exclusively  devoted 
to  training  students  in  technical  and  decorative  art: 
the  commercial  value  of  wall-papers  and  carpet-pat- 
terns attracts  their  energies  rather  than  the  higher 
aspirations  of  pure  art.  The  colonial  temperament 
is  as  yet  too  aggressively  commercial  to  be  artistic. 
The  Government  of  the  Colony,  unlike  the  Australa- 
sian governments,  does  absolutely  nothing  to  encour- 
age art  and  private  munificence  does  little  more. 

The  architecture  in  ISTew  Zealand  towns  is  of  the 
crudest  description.  There  are  indeed  here  and 
there  some  fine  public  buildings  in  stone — in  Christ- 
church  and  Dunedin  especially.  But  the  builders 
of  business  premises  and  private  houses  seem  to  have 
a  single  eye  to  utility  and  economy.  More  than 
ninety  per  cent  of  the  houses  are  of  wood ;  timber  is 
cheap  and  earthquakes  not  uncommon.  Only  a  few 
architects  in  the  colony  design  wooden  houses  with 
any  pretensions  to  artistic  beauty  either  because  they 
have  not  the  imagination  or  because  there  is  not  the 
demand.  Wellington,  the  chief  town  of  the  colony, 
is  probably,  from  an  architectural  point  of  view,  the 
ugliest  in  the  world.  Its  square  wooden  houses  are 
roofed  with  galvanised  iron ;  and  looked  at  from  the 
terraces  above,  the  town  resembles  nothing  so  much 
as  a  collection  of  derelict  kerosene  tins.  The  aver- 
age New  Zealand  villa  or  cottage  is  a  square  box, 
with  a  four  to  six-foot  passage,  pretentiously 
called  a  "  hall,"  running  through  it  from  front  to 
back.  On  either  side  of  this,  arranged  with  all  a 
Scotch  gardener's  love  of  symmetry,  are  sitting-room 
and  dining-room,  bedrooms  and  kitchen.  The  roof 


384  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

is  usually  of  glaring  galvanised  iron,  left  unpainted 
for  cheapness'  sake,  and  there  is  no  attempt  at  either 
internal  or  external  decoration.  If  Gothic  archi- 
tecture drew  its  first  inspiration  from  the  leafy 
aisles  of  the  German  forest,  the  evolutionary  starting 
point  of  the  New  Zealand  villa  must  have  been  the 
tin-lined  packing  case  in  which  the  pioneer  settler 
imported  his  goods  and  chattels.  But  these  cot- 
tages are  convenient  if  not  beautiful ;  and  there  pre- 
vails within  them  a  higher  standard  of  comfort  than 
obtains  in  the  homes  of  the  working  or  trading  class 
in  most  other  parts  of  the  world. 

The  most  widely  diffused  art  in  the  colony  is 
music.  In  all  the  large  towns  there  are  three  or 
four  musical  societies ;  even  remote  up-country  town- 
ships have  their  glee-club  or  choral  association. 
Several  English  and  Continental  musicians  of  note 
are  settled  in  the  Colony  and  engaged  in  teaching; 
and  there  is  an  excellent  "  School  of  Music  "  in  con- 
nection with  one  of  the  Colleges  affiliated  to  the 
University.  It  is  a  convincing,  but  occasionally, 
also,  distressing  proof,  of  the  general  prosperity, 
that  every  thriving  artisan  has  a  piano  in  his  cot- 
tage on  which  his  daughter,  in  the  intervals  of  factory 
or  domestic  employments,  plays  "  The  Blue  Danube 
Waltz."  The  Colony  has  so  far  produced  only  one 
composer  who  seems  likely  to  attain  fame  in  a  wider 
sphere — Mr.  Alfred  Hill.  His  Cantata  "  Hinemoa  " 
is  a  composition  of  the  first  order  of  merit,  while 
several  of  his  songs  are  probably  destined  to  live. 

Though  art  does  not,  science  does,  receive  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  state  encouragement.  The  New  Zea- 
land Institute,  an  association  of  some  800  members, 
with  branches  in  the  chief  towns  of  the  Colony, 
receives  a  substantial  grant  from  the  Government 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  385 

which  enables  it  to  publish  an  annual  record  of 
"  Transactions  "  of  very  great  scientific  value.  The 
Colony  offers  a  rich  field  for  scientific  research.  It 
is  geologically  one  of  the  oldest  countries  on  the  face 
of  the  globe,  and  it  exhibits  every  variety  of  volcanic 
phenomena  in  a  state  of  activity.  Its  fauna  and 
flora  are  in  many  respects  unique.  It  was  once  the 
home  of  the  huge  Dinornis  or  Moa  bird,  of  which 
remains  still  continue  to  be  discovered  in  swamps 
and  caves ;  it  is  still  the  habitat  of  the  Kiwi  and  the 
Tuatara  lizard.  Finally  it  is  the  land  of  the  Maori ; 
the  finest  physically  and  intellectually  of  the  Poly- 
nesian races;  their  language  and  traditions,  their 
customs  and  their  arts,  offer  a  rich  field  for  philo- 
logical and  ethnological  research. 

It  is  in  the  department  of  literature  dealing  with 
scientific  subjects,  therefore,  that  we  find  the  most 
valuable  and  the  most  original  work  so  far  produced 
in  New  Zealand.  The  first  purely  scientific  work 
dealing  with  the  geology,  botany  and  natural  history 
of  the  Colony  was  Dr.  Deiffenbach's  "  Travels  in 
New  Zealand,"  published  in  1843 ;  next  in  impor- 
tance, perhaps,  ranks  the  geological  researches  of 
Dr.  Hochstetter,  Sir  Julius  von  Haast  and  Captain 
F.  W.  Hutton.  The  most  complete  work  on  the  orni- 
thology of  New  Zealand  is  Sir  Walter  Buller's 
beautifully  illustrated  "  History  of  the  Birds  of 
New  Zealand."  But  the  Transactions  of  the  New 
Zealand  Institute,  extending  over  some  thirty  years, 
teem  with  rare  information  in  every  field  of  scientific 
research.  Among  the  most  valuable  contributions 
are  the  papers  of  the  late  Rev.  W.  Colenso,  who  de- 
voted himself  to  the  study  of  ethnology  and  natural 
history  with  the  same  enthusiasm  that  his  cousin, 
the  well-known  Bishop  of  Natal,  expended  upon 


386  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

mathematics  and  Biblical  criticism;  and  was,  like 
his  more  distinguished  relative,  a  loving  student  of 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  aboriginal  race  with 
which  he  was  brought  into  contact. 

The  Maori  race  furnishes  the  subject  matter  of 
a  large  and  interesting  section  of  the  scientific  litera- 
ture of  the  Colony.  The  early  missionaries  first 
gave  them  a  written  tongue;  Lee  and  Kendall  with 
their  Maori  grammar  published  in  1820,  Colenso 
with  his  printing  press  at  Pahia,  and  the  first  Bishop 
of  Waiapu,  W.  Williams,  with  his  "  Dictionary  "  in 
1844,  erected  Maori  into  a  literary  tongue  with  some 
approach  to  uniformity.  Sir  George  Grey's  "  Poly- 
nesian Mythology  "  is  invaluable  as  a  record  of  the 
legendary  and  historical  traditions  of  the  Maori. 
It  is  full  and  accurate  and  faithful  to  the  genius  of 
the  race;  but  it  leaves  something  to  be  desired  in 
point  of  literary  treatment.  A  collection  of  Maori 
legends,  in  the  manner  and  style  of  Church's 
"  Stories  from  Homer,"  and  illustrated  with  as  true 
art,  would  be  a  valuable  addition  not  merely  to  the 
Colony's,  but  to  the  world's  literature.  Mr.  John 
White's  "  History  of  the  Maori  "  is  as  ponderous  as 
Holinshed  and  as  full  as  Macaulay;  the  conflicting 
theories  as  to  the  origin  and  migrations  of  the  race 
are  discussed  in  a  series  of  papers  in  the  Polynesian 
Journal  by  Mr.  S.  Percy  Smith,  and  are  ultimately 
destined  to  form  part  of  a  great  work  on  the  subject ; 
the  philology  of  the  Maori  tongue  is  a  chief  subject 
of  the  researches  of  Mr.  Edward  Tregear,  whose 
Comparative  Polynesian  Dictionary  has  already 
placed  him  in  the  first  rank  of  living  lexicographers. 

"  Of  the  making  of  books  there  is  no  end  " — even 
among  the  young,  busy,  money-getting  !N"ew  Zealand- 
ers.  But  only  a  very  few  of  the  books  so  far  written 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  £87 

in  the  Colony  or  by  colonials  deserve  to  take  rank 
as  literature.  Journalism  is  the  channel  through 
which  most  of  the  literary  talent  bred  and  trained 
in  the  Colony  finds  expression ;  the  men  and  women 
who  are  capable  of  more  enduring  work  usually 
gravitate  to  London  and,  in  a  few  cases,  have  taken 
an  honourable  place  in  the  English  world  of  letters. 
The  number  of  papers  published  in  the  Colony 
bears  remarkable  testimony  to  the  general  intelli- 
gence and  demand  for  information  among  the  people. 
In  a  population  of  a  little  over  three-quarters  of  a 
million  there  are  208  newspapers  on  the  official  regis- 
ter. Many  of  these  are  of  course  mere  up-country 
news-sheets ;  others  are  trade  or  professional  journals. 
But  four  of  them  at  least  will  compare  favourably, 
both  as  to  information,  tone  and  style,  with  the  lead- 
ing papers  of  the  great  Australian  cities :  the  Auck- 
land Herald,  Otago  Daily  Times,  Lyttelton  Times 
and  Christ-church  Press.  Their  news-columns  are 
naturally  vitiated  by  that  most  debased  form  of  our 
mother  tongue — reporters'  English;  but  their  lead- 
ing and  contributed  articles  exhibit  a  high  standard 
of  literary  excellence  and  purity  of  diction.  The 
aims  of  their  proprietors  are  partly  profit,  partly 
political  influence.  The  smallness  of  population  in 
our  towns  makes  their  profitableness  more  than  doubt- 
ful ;  the  results  of  the  last  four  elections  go  to 
show  that,  with  one  exception,  they  are  completely 
out  of  touch  with  the  political  views  of  the  majority. 
This,  however,  does  not  seem  to  aiTcct  their  popular- 
ity or  their  circulation.  Illustrated  journalism 
scarcely  existed  in  ~N~ew  Zealand  ten  years  ago,  !Nbw 
it  has  reached  a  high  state  of  artistic  excellence  in 
the  weekly  papers,  several  of  these,  especially  the 
Christchurch  Weekly  Press,  being  justly  noted  for 


388  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  fine  quality  of  its  photographic  and  lithographic 
reproductions. 

A  number  of  magazines  have  from  time  to  time 
been  started  in  the  Colony;  but  none  have  so  far 
survived  a  sickly  infancy.  The  weekly  editions  of 
the  large  dailies  to  some  extent  supply  the  place  of 
"  family  magazines."  For  more  serious  periodical 
journalism  the  New  Zealander  has  to  go  to  English 
and  American  magazines,  which  are  imported  in 
great  numbers.  The  want  of  a  local  magazine  is 
much  to  be  deplored:  there  is  no  medium  for  the 
calm  and  unbiassed  discussion  of  social  and  legis- 
lative problems  outside  the  columns  of  the  daily 
papers,  and  these  are,  without  exception,  violently 
partisan ;  and  there  is  no  training  school  for  literary 
talent  in  which  the  young  New  Zealander  can  try 
his  unfledged  wings.  Of  the  various  abortive  at- 
tempts to  form  a  periodical  in  the  Colony  the  New 
Zealand  Magazine,  1876-77,  gave  most  promise  of 
success.  The  ablest  men  in  the  Colony  contributed 
to  its  columns;  and  several  articles  of  permanent 
literary  or  scientific  value  appeared  in  it;  but  after 
existing  for  two  years,  it  died  from  want  of  support. 
At  the  present  time  an  illustrated  monthly  is  strug- 
gling into  popularity  in  Auckland ;  but  it  is  still  in 
the  experimental  stage.  There  are,  however,  two 
extremely  valuable  technical  periodicals  in  the  Col- 
ony: the  monthly  journal  of  the  Polynesian  So- 
ciety, edited  by  Mr.  S.  Percy  Smith;  and  the 
monthly  Journal  of  the  Department  of  Labour,  edited 
by  Mr.  E.  Tregear,  a  Government  publication  full 
of  information,  statistical  and  general,  on  the  prob- 
lems connected  with  capital  and  labour. 

The  reader  who  is  interested  in  the  story  of  pio- 
neer settlement  in  New  Zealand,  in  the  labours  of 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  389 

the  early  missionaries,  in  our  wars  with  the  Maori, 
and  in  the  traditions  and  customs  of  this  now  de- 
cadent race,  has  a  large  range  of  books  to  choose 
from.  Most  of  the  missionaries  who  laboured  in  the 
Colony  during  the  first  half  of  the  century  con- 
tributed "  Journals,"  "  Lives  "  and  "  Experiences  " 
to  this  literature;  in  many  of  these  there  is  unfor- 
tunately more  of  the  venom  of  controversy  than 
the  accuracy  of  history;  in  others  a  well  meaning 
piety  scarcely  atones  for  a  blundering  style.  Trav- 
ellers' tales,  too,  there  are  in  plenty,  from  the  dull 
but  reliable  experiences  of  Major  Cruise  to  the  en- 
tertaining but  apocryphal  adventures  of  John  Ruth- 
erford. The  Maori  War,  too,  produced  its  own 
special  crop  of  books,  which  from  different  points 
of  view  tell  the  same  tale  of  ineptitude.  These, 
though  they  have  all  their  value  as  "  books  about 
New  Zealand,"  cannot  in  any  sense  be  said  to  be- 
long to  the  beginnings  of  ]STew  Zealand  literature. 

There  are,  however,  two  books  on  the  Colony,  and 
these  by  far  the  best,  which  may  fairly  be  claimed 
as  part  of  our  literature : — Manning's  "  Old  New 
Zealand"  (1863);  and  Beeves'  "The  Long  White 
Cloud  "  (1898).  The  former  was  written  by  a  man 
who  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the  Colony, 
married  a  native  wife,  and  became  permanently 
domiciled  as  a  pakeha-Maori ;  the  latter  by  a  man 
who  was  born  in  the  Colony,  educated  in  its  schools 
and  who  has  subsequently  played  a  distinguished 
part  in  its  public  life.  Manning's  book  describes 
the  vie  intime  of  the  Maori,  as  it  could  only  be  known 
to  a  man  who  lived  long  among  them,  himself  a  natu- 
ralised Maori.  It  combines  the  truth  of  history  with 
the  charm  of  romance.  The  author  did  not  merely 
observe,  he  was  part  of,  the  inner  life  of  the  hapu. 


PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

He  describes  the  incidents  of  their  daily  life;  their 
strange  law  of  mum;  the  sacred  significance  and 
humorous  inconveniences  of  the  institution  of  tapu; 
their  heraldic  tattooing  and  their  mourning  mutila- 
tions; their  war-dances  and  war-customs;  their  hos- 
pitality, their  chivalry,  their  courage.  But  he  does 
more  than  describe,  he  interprets,  the  life  of  the 
Maori;  he  understands,  as  none  but  a  philosopher 
in  the  guise  of  a  pakeha-Maori  could  understand, 
the  "  true  inwardness  "  of  laws,  ceremonies  and  in- 
cidents that  to  the  mere  observer  would  appear  only 
fantastic  and  absurd.  Lord  Pembroke  in  his  pref- 
ace to  the  second  edition  of  "  Old  New  Zealand  " 
describes  Manning  as  "  the  Charles  Lever  "  of  New 
Zealand  literature;  and  the  rich  vein  of  humour  in 
Manning's  book  justifies  the  comparison;  but  there 
was  much  more  in  Manning's  sympathetic  insight 
into  Maori  life  than  the  genial  humour  which  ranks 
him  with  the  Irish  novelist. 

"  The  Long  White  Cloud,"  as  Mr.  W.  P.  Reeves 
calls  his  book,  from  the  poetical  Maori  designation 
of  the  Colony,  "  Ao-tea-roa,"  is,  though  but  recently 
issued,  already  too  well-known  to  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  Colony's  history  to  need  description  or 
criticism  here.  It  is  a  fascinating  story  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  written  in  lucid,  crisp,  and  often  epi- 
grammatic prose;  it  is  at  once  the  work  of  a  practi- 
cal man  with  experience  of  affairs  and  of  an  imagi- 
native student  with  a  turn  for  poetry.  A  fuller  and 
more  "  f  acty  "  book  might  easily  be  produced ;  a 
history  more  agreeable  to  read  will  not  soon  be 
written. 

Two  other  books  of  great  value  to  the  student  of 
the  Colony's  history  are  Mr.  W.  Gisborne's  "  New 
Zealand  Rulers  and  Statesmen"  and  Mr.  Alfred 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  391 

Saunders'  "  History  of  New  Zealand."  The  first 
is  the  story  of  the  Colony's  public  life  told  in  a  series 
of  admirable  biographical  sketches;  the  second  is  a 
conscientious  record  of  events  from  the  pen  of  a  man 
who  earned  by  his  long  parliamentary  career  the 
soubriquet  of  the  Nestor  of  New  Zealand  politics. 
It  is  strongly  partisan  and  even  at  times  inexcusably 
bitter  in  its  criticism  of  the  character  and  motives 
of  public  men.  But  it  is  filled  with  valuable  infor- 
mation in  its  extensive  quotations  from  political 
documents  and  speeches ;  and  the  sincere  and  honest 
patriotism  of  the  writer  more  than  atones  for  his 
injudicious  invective  and  his  literary  shortcomings. 
There  seems  to  have  existed  in  New  Zealand  at 
one  time  a  taste  for  books  depicting  "  ideal  com- 
monwealths." The  same  taste  exists  to-day,  perhaps, 
but  finds  expression  in  Utopian  legislation  rather 
than  in  Utopian  literature.  Many  books  of  the 
class,  at  all  events,  have  been  written  in  New  Zea- 
land or  by  New  Zealanders.  "  The  Decline  and 
Tall  of  the  British  Empire,"  by  the  Rev.  H.  0.  M. 
Watson,  and  Sir  Julius  Vogel's  "  Anpo  Domini 
2,000  "  are  examples.  One  book  of  this  class  achieved 
a  wide  and  lasting  success:  Mr.  Samuel  Butler's 
"  Erewhon ;  or,  Over  the  Range."  First  published 
in  the  early  seventies,  simultaneously  with  Lytton's 
"  Coming  Race,"  it  had  by  1890  already  passed 
through  eight  editions;  and  its  popularity  deserves 
to  be  permanent.  New  Zealand's  claim  to  include 
it  in  her  literature  lies  in  the  fact  that  Mr.  Butler 
for  some  years  resided  in  the  Colony;  the  book 
probably  first  took  shape  in  his  mind  while  he  was 
engaged  in  journalism  in  Canterbury ;  and  the  scene 
of  his  imaginary  state  "  over  the  range  "  is  on  the 
west  coast  of  the  South  Island.  "  Erewhou  "  has  a 


392  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

philosophical,  not  a  political,  purpose;  in  parts — 
such  as  the  chapter  on  "  The  College  of  Unreason  " 
— its  satire  is  reminiscent  of  the  most  amusing  parts 
of  Gulliver's  visit  to  Laputa;  in  others, — such  as 
the  "  Book  of  Machines  " — it  anticipates  by  twenty 
years  the  vein  now  so  successfully  worked  by  the 
popular  story-writer,  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells. 

Much  fiction,  in  the  shape  of  short  stories  and 
novels  of  all  sorts,  has  already  been  produced  in  the 
Colony ;  very  little  of  it  calls  for  notice  here  as  New 
Zealand  literature.  There  are,  however,  two  gradu- 
ates of  the  New  Zealand  University  who  have 
achieved  success  in  fiction.  Mrs.  Edith  Howitt 
Grossmann,  besides  contributing  largely  to  periodical 
literature  in  the  Colony,  has  produced  two  novels. 
The  first,  "  Angela ;  or,  The  Messenger,"  is  a  study 
in  Salvation  Army  emotionalism;  it  is  remarkable 
more  for  occasional  vivid  word-painting  of  scenery 
than  for  incident  or  characterisation.  Her  second 
and  more  ambitious  work,  "  In  Revolt,"  is  a  novel 
on  the  marriage  question.  It  is  an  exceedingly 
powerful  book;  several  of  the  characters  are  drawn 
with  a  master-hand,  and  it  contains  some  striking 
dramatic  situations.  But  its  sombre  pessimism  is 
unrelieved  by  a  single  ray  of  humour  or  brightness. 
It  is  as  gloomy  as  Gissing  in  his  darkest  mood. 

Mr.  H.  B.  Marriott  Watson,  son  of  the  Rev.  H. 
C.  M.  Watson,  himself  a  litterateur  of  ability,  was 
born  and  educated  in  Christchurch,  taking  his  de- 
gree at  Canterbury  College  in  1884.  He  then  went 
to  London  to  embark  upon  the  profession  of  letters. 
He  has  published  several  good  novels;  written  a 
play,  "Richard  Savage";  a  number  of  excellent 
short  stories  from  his  pen  have  appeared  in  the  best 
magazines;  and  he  has  filled  responsible  posts  on 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  393 

the  staffs  of  journals  like  the  National  Observer  and 
the  Saturday  Review.  So  far,  among  New  Zealand- 
ers  who  have  taken  to  literature,  his  has  been  the 
most  distinguished  career.  Two  of  his  novels  only 
can  be  said  to  belong  to  the  Colony's  literature :  the 
first,  Marahuna,  a  philosophical  romance  suggested 
apparently,  like  Erewhon,  by  studies  in  Darwinism, 
was  written  in  part  at  least  before  he  left  the  Colony. 
Another,  "  The  Web  of  the  Spider,"  is  a  stirring 
etory  of  the  "  books  for  boys  "  type  dealing  with 
incidents  in  the  Maori  Wars,  and  interesting  to  New 
Zealanders  from  its  local  colouring. 

New  Zealand  will  one  day  be  a  land  of  singers  as 
surely  as  it  is  destined  to  become  the  home  of  paint- 
ers. But  it  is  too  early  yet  to  look  for  the  marks  of 
a  "  School "  among  her  poets.  The  Australian  poet 
is  already  distinguishable  by  certain  characteristic 
traits:  in  externals,  the  deification  of  the  horse;  in 
spirit,  a  sombre  melancholy  as  dreary  as  the  treeless, 
trackless  wastes  of  his  "  haggard  continent."  But 
the  New  Zealand  singer  is  still  content  to  attune 
his  lay  to  English  melodies ;  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  his  native  land  enters  into  his  pictures;  the  joy 
and  hope  of  a  strong,  young  nation  glows  in  his 
verse;  the  chivalrous  courage  of  the  noble  race  they 
have  supplanted  claims  his  tribute;  but  alike  in  the 
spirit  and  form  of  his  art,  he  is  still  an  English 
singer  of  an  English  song. 

First  and  best  of  the  New  Zealand  poets  is  Alfred 
Domett,  author  of  "  Ranolf  and  Amohia."  He 
came  to  the  Colony  in  1842  and  was  among  the  earli- 
est settlers  in  the  Nelson  province;  and  during  the 
thirty  years  he  remained,  filled  many  important 
posts,  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  administration 
of  Crown  lands;  he  had  a  seat  in  the  Colonial  Legis- 


394  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

lature  from  1846  to  1870  and  was  for  two  years 
Premier  of  the  Colony.  "  Kanolf  and  Amohia  " 
was  written  during  his  residence  in  the  Colony,  but 
was  not  published  till  his  return  to  England  in  1871. 
It  is  a  long  narrative  poem  in  six  books — the  story 
of  the  loves  of  Ranolf,  a  sailor-student,  and  Amohia, 
a  Maori  maiden.  But  this  love-plot,  like  the  narra- 
tive element  in  Wordsworth's  "  Excursion,"  is 
merely  a  loose  link  to  connect  together  philosophical 
reflections,  descriptions  of  nature,  accounts  of  Maori 
customs  and  translations  of  Maori  songs  and  legends. 
Domett  handles  with  grace  and  facility  a  variety  of 
difficult  metres ;  he  has  a  truly  poetic  gift  of  observa- 
tion and  his  descriptions  of  £Tew  Zealand  scenery — 
the  weird  wonders  for  example  of  its  geyser  region 
— are  always  vividly  picturesque,  even  if  occasion- 
ally marred  by  passages  elaborated  with  the  indus- 
try of  a  geographer  rather  than  the  genius  of  a  poet. 
To  the  world  of  English  readers  Domett's  "New  Zea- 
land landscape  was  as  new  "  as  was  Chateaubriand's 
description  of  Virgin  America  in  his  day " ;  and 
the  poem  was  &  literary,  though  not  a  popular,  suc- 
cess. It  proved  the  author  to  be  a  man  of  great 
originality  and  buoyant  imaginative  life.  An  early 
poem  of  Domett's,  "  A  Christmas  Hymn,"  had  at- 
tracted the  favourable  notice  of  Longfellow ;  "  Ran- 
olf and  Amohia  "  had  the  distinction  of  winning  the 
warm  approval  of  Browning;  and  Domett,  the  poet, 
returned  from  the  Antipodes  with  his  masterpiece 
as  the  fruit  of  his  colonial  experience,  figures  as 
"Waring"  in  Browning's  poem  of  that  name. 
Robert  Browning  wrote  of  it  (1872):  "I  rank  it 
tinder  nothing — taken  altogether — nothing  that  has 
appeared  in  my  day  and  generation  for  subtle,  yet 
clear,  writing,  about  subjects  the  most  urgent  for 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  395 

expression,  and  the  least  easy  in  treatment;  while 
the  affluence  of  illustration,  and  dexterity  in  bring- 
ing to  bear  upon  the  story  every  possible  aid  from 
every  imaginable  quarter,  and  that  with  such  treas- 
ures, new  arid  old,  of  language  and  such  continuance 
of  music  in  modes  old  and  new — well,  I  hope  I  am 
no  more  surprised  at  the  achievement  than  is  con- 
sistent with  my  always  having  held  to  the  belief 
that  whenever  '  Waring '  reappeared,  some  such 
effect  would  follow  the  phenomenon."  Lord  Tenny- 
son said  of  it,  "  Intellectual  subtlety,  great  power  of 
delineating  delicious  scenery,  imaginative  fire — all 
these  are  there." 

Politics  and  poetry  appear,  in  New  Zealand  at 
least,  to  possess  some  strange  affinity.  Domett, 
though  the  most  distinguished,  is  by  no  means  the 
only  New  Zealand  author  who  succeeded  in  com- 
bining official  duties  with  the  cultivation  of  the 
Muses.  Of  the  small  band  of  verse  writers  in  the 
Colony,  a  majority  have  been  public  men.  Mr. 
Charles  Christopher  Bowen  was  Minister  of  Justice 
in  one  of  the  Vogel  Cabinets ;  Mr.  William  Pember 
Reeves  was  Minister  of  Education  in  the  Ballance 
Administration,  Mr.  William  Jukes  Steward  was 
for  some  time  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, Mr.  Vincent  Pyke  and  Mr.  Thomas  Bracken 
for  many  years  represented  Otago  constituencies: 
and  each  of  these  has  produced  a  book  of  poems.  Mr. 
C.  0.  Bowen  in  1861  published  a  volume  of  verses, 
of  which  "  The  Battle  of  the  Free  "  and  "  Moon- 
light in  New  Zealand  "  are  perhaps  the  best.  Mr. 
W.  P.  Reeves  is  a  writer  of  elegant  and  polished 
verse :  his  "  Canterbury  Couplets  "  and  "  In  Double 
Harness,"  both  published  conjointly  with  Mr.  Gr.  P. 
Williams,  contain  several  pieces  of  considerable 


396  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

merit ;  but  his  "  Passing  of  the  Forest "  constitutes 
probably  his  best  claim  to  inclusion  in  the  short 
catalogue  of  New  Zealand  verse-writers.  Mr.  W.  J. 
Steward  (Justin  Aubrey's)  "  Carmina  Varia  "  is  a 
collection  of  reflective  poems  more  remarkable  for 
facile  versification  than  vigour  of  thought.  Mr.  Vin- 
cent Pyke,  besides  being  the  writer  of  several  stir- 
ring tales  of  life  on  the  Otago  Gold  Fields,  produced 
some  spirited  verse,  and  was  author  of  the  Colony's 
national  anthem. 

The  late  Thomas  Bracken  probably  ranks,  after 
Domett,  as  the  Colony's  best  wrifer  of  verse.  A 
witty  journalist  and  an  erratic  politician,  he  had  a 
somewhat  chequered  career.  He  was  an  Irishman 
possessed  of  great  personal  charm;  he  had  a  rich 
vein  of  Keltic  humour  and  Keltic  sentiment;  and 
he  achieved  in  his  lifetime  much  popularity  and 
little  success.  In  the  words  of  his  best  and  truest 
poem  he  was  "  Not  Understood."  "  Behind  the 
Tombs  "  and  "  Flowers  of  the  Fenlands  "  were  pub- 
lished by  him  while  resident  in  Victoria.  His  New 
Zealand  poems  are  contained  in  his  "  Lays  of  the 
Land  of  the  Maori  and  the  Moa."  "  Te  Raupa- 
raha  "  is  the  most  ambitious ;  "  The  Waterfall  "  the 
most  musical ;  and  "  Not  Understood "  the  most 
poetical  of  his  compositions. 

Mr.  George  Phipps  Williams,  referred  to  above  as 
partner  with  Mr.  W.  P.  Reeves  in  two  published 
collections  of  verse,  is  a  genial  satirist  rather  than 
a  poet,  though  he  handles  metre  with  great  skill. 
It  is  the  comedy  rather  than  the  romance  of  colonial 
life  that  appeals  to  him.  His  verses  are  more  racy 
of  the  soil,  more  true  to  local  colouring,  than  most 
of  the  work  of  his  contemporaries.  They  deal  in  the 
humours  of  the  shearing-shed  and  the  survey  camp ; 


ART,  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE.  397 

a  keen  sportsman  himself,  his  racing  rhymes  are  the 
best  of  their  kind.  As  typical  pictures  of  New 
Zealand  station  life  may  be  instanced  his  amusing 
"  New  Chum's  Letter  Home "  and  his  "  Lines  to 
a  Pound  Note/'  in  which  a  "  station  hand  "  come 
to  town  to  "  knock  down  his  cheque,"  humorously 
apostrophises  a  bank-note,  "  last  of  his  race,"  anid 
destined  like  its  predecessors  to  "  cross  the  bar." 

Two  ladies,  Mrs.  J.  G.  Wilson  ("  Austral ")  and 
Miss  Mary  Colborne-Veel,  take  rank  with  the  best 
of  our  verse-writers.  "  Austral "  has  published  a 
number  of  poems  from  time  to  time  in  "  The  Aus- 
tralasian," some  of  them  of  great  beauty.  The  best 
of  them  are  well  known  in  England  through  their 
inclusion  in  Mr.  Douglas  Sladen's  anthologies  of 
Australian  verse.  Miss  Colborne-Veel  has  contrib- 
uted to  the  Christchurch  Weekly  Press  many  bright, 
witty  and  elegant  copies  of  verse.  Most  of  these  are 
collected  in  a  volume  published  in  1888. 

The  name  of  Arthur  H.  Adams  closes  the  list  of 
New  Zealand  poets  in  the  century.  He  is  the  only 
one  among  them  who  has  adopted  literature  as  a 
profession;  he  is  still  under  thirty,  and,  if  his  sub- 
sequent work  fulfils  the  rich  promise  of  what  he  has 
already  published,  he  should  take  a  good  place  in 
the  ranks  of  literature.  The  first  work  that  brought 
him  into  notice  was  the  libretto  of  Mr.  Alfred  Hill's 
Cantata  "  Hinemoa,"  already  referred  to  as  the  only 
musical  composition  that  has  so  far  achieved  dis- 
tinction in  New  Zealand.  He  has  since  written  some 
plays  and  the  libretto  of  an  opera ;  and  the  Sydney 
"  Bulletin "  Company  has  just  published  a  collec- 
tion of  his  pieces,  "  Maori-land  and  other  Verse." 
Some  of  his  compositions  are  crude  and  juvenile; 
moat  of  his  "  Love  Motives  "  he  will  probably  ex- 


398  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

elude  from  his  next  collection.  But  he  has  a  true 
ear  for  the  melody  of  verse ;  he  has  the  art  of  felici- 
tous expression.  He  is  an  observant  nature-student 
and  his  verse  does  full  justice  to  the  beauties  of  his 
native  land.  "  The  Graves  of  Our  Dead "  and 
"  Written  in  Australia  " — with  its  sweetly  musical 
refrain, — exhibit  these  qualities  at  their  best. 
Wherever  his  verse  touches  on  New  Zealand  themes 
it  glows  with  love  and  pride  in  the  land  that  gave 
him  birth ;  and  his  "  Maori-land,"  in  spite  of  the 
liberty  he  takes  of  re-naming  his  mother-land,  is 
perhaps  the  most  truly  national  poem  in  New  Zea- 
land. 


?HE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.     399 


CHAPTEE  XXIX. 

THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE   CENTTTRY. 

"  THE  Maori  is  going  to  his  doom — dying  of  a 
broken  heart."  Such  is  the  deliberate  verdict  of  one 
of  the  most  sympathetic  students  of  the  Maori  prob- 
lem upon  the  fate  of  his  own  race.  In  the  sudden 
conflict  between  the  forces  of  a  highly  organised 
civilisation  and  the  customs  and  prejudices  of  a 
barbarous  though  noble  race,  he  sees  no  other  issue 
than  the  fateful  operation  of  the  natural  law  that 
decrees  extinction  to  the  weaker.  The  Maori  is 
confronted  with  a  new  social  system  the  spirit  of 
which  he  only  dimly  understands;  baffled  by  the 
definite  dogmas  of  a  new  religion  alien  to  the  mysti- 
cal genius  of  his  race;  conquered  by  the  pakeha  in 
war,  still  more  hopelessly  beaten  in  the  rivalries  of 
peace;  and  he  vaguely  realises  that  his  old  ideals 
are  slipping  from  him,  that  he  is  losing  the  virtues 
of  the  conquered  race  and  acquiring  only  the  vices 
of  the  conquering;  and  foresees,  with  the  instinct- 
ive pessimism  of  a  highly  imaginative  tempera- 
ment, his  own  posterity  dying  off  the  face  of  the 
earth. 

The  outlook  for  the  race  is  undoubtedly  gloomy. 
The  census  returns  are  the  reverse  of  encouraging. 
The  first  estimate  was  made  in  1857,  when  the  num- 
bers of  the  race  were  returned  at  56,000.  But  this 
estimate  was  probably  much  over  the  mark.  Since 
1881  the  work  of  taking  a  census  has  been  attended 


400  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

with  less  difficulty ;  and  the  figures  for  the  last  four 
quinquennial  periods  are  as  follows: 

1881..  44,097 

1886 41,969 

1891 41 ,993 

1896 39,854 

It  would  thus  appear  that  during  these  fifteen 
years  there  had  been  a  decrease  of  4,248  souls.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  difficulties 
of  accurate  enumeration  are  still  very  great.  Tho 
work  has  to  be  extended  over  several  weeks,  instead 
of  being  done,  as  in  the  case  of  Europeans,  in  one 
night.  In  many  districts — the  "  King  Country,"  in 
particular — the  natives  object  to  making  returns, 
connecting  the  census  enumeration  in  some  way  with 
their  bete  noire,  the  dog-tax.  But,  even  if  every 
allowance  is  made  for  error,  there  is  little  room  to 
doubt  that  the  Maori  population,  for  the  time  at 
any  rate,  shows  a  marked  downward  tendency. 

The  chief  causes  of  the  decline  are  the  prevalence 
of  social  vices,  disregard  of  sanitation,  and  unfavour- 
able economic  conditions. 

Among  the  Maoris  there  is  practically  no  court- 
ship; a  marriage  is  only  a  temporary  arrangement, 
terminable  at  the  whim  of  either  party.  A  marriage 
is  arranged  for  a  young  couple  by  their  elders ;  land 
or  tribal  interests  are  alone  regarded  in  the  choice 
and  the  wishes  of  bride  and  bridegroom  are  never 
consulted.  The  result  of  these  marriages  is  almost 
invariably  adultery  and  desertion ;  and  the  great 
majority  of  Maori  children  are  born  in  moepuka  or 
concubinage.  The  sexual  immorality  associated  with 
such  a  system  has  its  natural  outcome  in  decline  of 
population;  the  consanguineous  alliances  so  com- 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  401 

mon  among  them  tend  in  the  same  direction;  while 
of  the  children  born,  an  exceptionally  small  pro- 
portion survive  infancy. 

In  matters  of  sanitation,  Captain  Cook  found 
that  most  Maori  pas  (villages)  would  compare  more 
than  favourably  with  many  large  cities  of  Europe 
in  his  time.  In  the  days  of  tribal  wars,  elevated 
positions  were  naturally  selected  for  purposes  of 
defence;  and  every  isolated  hill  or  promontory  in 
the  JSTorth  Island  has  at  one  time  or  another  been 
the  site  of  a  pa  or  citadel.  The  dwellings,  Cook 
found,  were  separated  by  irregular  passages  of  com- 
munication and  open  spaces  for  recreation;  while 
regulations  were  strictly  enforced  to  ensure  the  clean- 
liness of  the  village.  All  this  has  unfortunately 
changed.  With  the  pax  Britannica  the  Maori  moved 
to  lower  grounds  to  be  near  his  cultivations  and  the 
pas  are  now  often  pitched  in  depressed  or  swampy 
situations.  The  wharepuni  or  living  house  is  a  low- 
roofed,  barn-like  structure,  seldom  more  than  eight 
to  ten  feet  high  from  ground  to  ridge-pole.  There 
is  but  one  door,  only  high  enough  to  admit  a  man 
in  a  stooping  position,  and  near  the  door  is  a  small 
square  aperture  which  serves  the  double  purpose  of 
window  and  chimney.  Inside,  huddled  on  unwhole- 
some straw,  parents  and  children,  pigs  and  dogs, 
wage  common  war  against  the  pest  of  vermin.  The 
preservation  of  health  under  such  conditions  must 
be  difficult  enough  at  all  times.  But  the  evil  is  ag- 
gravated by  occasional  and  spasmodic  indulgence  in 
the  comforts  of  civilisation.  A  sale  of  land  furnishes 
the  Maori  with  cash  for  the  time;  a  sitting  of  the 
Land  Court  takes  him  and  his  family  to  the  nearest 
township.  They  attire  themselves  in  European 
clothing — the  women  in  tawdry  and  bright-coloured 

2  A 


402  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

finery,  the  men  usually  in  quieter  garb.  They  sleep 
for  a  while  in  European  beds,  and  live  for  a  time 
on  European  food.  When  the  money  is  spent  they 
return  to  the  wharepuni  and  the  pigs;  when  the 
clothes  are  worn  out,  they  don  again  the  ragged 
blanket  or  the  tattered  flax-mat.  With  a  constitution 
thus  rendered  more  susceptible  to  external  influ- 
ences, it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  Maori 
falls  a  ready  prey  to  disease.  Unfortunately,  too, 
the  labours  of  the  missionaries  have  not  succeeded 
in  eradicating  their  superstitious  belief  in  the  powers 
of  their  priests;  and  the  charms  and  incantations 
of  the  Tohungas  are  a  poor  substitute  for  medical 
science  and  skilled  nursing  in  fighting  the  ravages 
of  asthma  and  consumption. 

Maori  superstition  and  Maori  conservatism  are 
in  fact  the  most  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the 
amelioration  of  the  race.  They  are  as  a  people  im- 
pressionable, imitative,  plastic.  They  adapt  them- 
selves with  marvellous  facility  to  the  manners  and 
customs  of  their  white  neighbours.  But  in  most 
cases  the  adaptation  is  only  temporary  and  super- 
ficial. Many  of  them  take  great  delight  in  learning 
and  reciting  the  Scriptures,  and  can  argue  on  points 
of  doctrine  with  all  the  subtlety  of  a  Presbyterian 
Elder.  But  they  regard  the  new  religion  rather  as 
an  abstraction  to  be  studied  than  a  rule  of  life  to 
be  followed ;  they  listen  to  the  parson  and  obey  the 
toliunga.  Their  quick  intelligence  makes  them  apt 
scholars;  and  it  is  estimated  that  fully  ninety  per 
cent  of  the  adult  population  can  read  and  write ;  yet 
boys  and  girls,  after  spending  four  or  five  years  at 
£  boarding  school  and  acquiring  both  the  solid  knowl- 
edge and  the  refined  accomplishments  which  a  liberal 
education  can  give,  will,  in  a  few  mouths  after  their 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  403 

return  to  their  native  pa,  relapse,  apparently  without 
a  regret,  into  sloth,  dirt  and  barbarism.  There  are, 
of  course,  the  many  and  notable  exceptions.  The 
Maori  church  has  its  Native  as  well  as  its  European 
martyrs;  and  in  the  hearts  of  many  Maoris  the  mes- 
sage of  the  Gospel  has  planted  firm  root.  There 
are,  too,  many  Maoris,  who,  in  dress  and  manner, 
knowledge  and  culture,  are  indistinguishable  from 
English  gentlemen  and  gentlewomen.  But  the  tend- 
ency to  reversion  is  an  ever-present  danger;  it  is 
in  the  blood — this  craving  for  the  old,  wild,  free 
life,  as  irresistible  almost  as  the  weirdly  mysterious 
calling  of  the  ocean  to  Henrik's  Ibsen's  "  Lady  from 
the  Sea." 

"  Happy-go-luckyism  "  is  the  apt  phrase  by  which 
a  student  of  native  life  describes  the  character  of  the 
Maori  in  its  social  and  economic  aspects.  In  many 
matters  he  is  utterly  improvident ;  it  is  either  a  feast 
or  a  famine  with  him.  He  invariably  anticipates 
his  land  rents  before  they  are  due ;  and  he  invariably 
squanders  his  wages  before  they  are  earned.  An 
inveterate  gambler,  he  is  passionately  fond  of  horse- 
racing  ;  in  a  tour  through  the  "  King  Country  "  ten 
years  ago,  the  writer  found  a  race-course  outside 
every  village  even  in  the  most  remote  parts  of  the 
interior.  With  such  proclivities  the  Maori  natur- 
ally finds  it  hard  to  hold  his  own  against  white 
competitors.  Yet  he  has  enormous  capacity  for 
work — in  spurts.  Shearing,  harvesting,  gum-dig- 
ging are  intermittent  employments  in  which  he  ex- 
cels. But  he  is  constitutionally  averse  from  plod- 
ding and  persistent  industry.  The  communistic 
ownership  which  still  obtains  is  a  detriment  to  indi- 
vidual effort  and  a  hindrance  to  the  success  of  agri- 
cultural and  pastoral  pursuits.  Throughout  the 


404  PROGRESS  OF*  NfiW  ZEALAND. 

"  King  Country "  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Wan- 
ganui  River  the  traveller  sees  costly  farm  machinery 
or  flax-milling  plant  rusting  to  decay,  overgrown 
with  fern  and  lichen.  Purchased  as  the  result  of 
some  spasmodic  outburst  of  communal  enthusiasm, 
the  villagers  soon  tired  of  the  costly  toy,  and  what 
was  every  one's  property  was  no  one's  care.  There 
are  cows  in  every  Kaluga;  but  it  rarely  occurs  to 
their  communal  owners  to  milk  them. 

"  The  Natives  of  New  Zealand,"  says  Major  Gud- 
geon, "  have  the  minds  of  children  and  the  passions 
of  men."  There  is  about  them  a  naive  simplicity, 
a  joyous  insouciance  that  never  fail  to  charm  in 
social  intercourse  with  them.  No  aboriginal  race 
anywhere  in  the  world  is  so  popular  with  its  white 
neighbours.  One  likes  them,  as  Desdemona  says, 
"  to  live  with  them."  The  writer,  at  all  events,  has 
never  experienced  more  graceful  and  cordial  hospi- 
tality, more  single-hearted  kindness,  than  among 
Maoris  in  those  parts  of  the  North  Island  where 
they  have  been  least  contaminated  by  civilisation. 
The  Maori  is  "  of  imagination  all  compact."  His 
daily  speech  is  rich  in  imagery;  the  very  names  he 
has  given  the  features  of  his  land  breathe  a  rude 
poetry.  Wai-atarua  "  Water  of  Twin  Shadows," 
Kororeka  "  Beach  of  Shining  Shells,"  Waiheke 
"  Tumbling  Waters,"  Ao-rang  "  Cloud  in  the 
Heaven " — how  euphonious  and  how  expressive ! 
Yet  we,  Vandals  of  a  later  day,  have  displaced  them 
by  College  Lake,  Russell,  Wilsonville,  and  Mount 
Cook!  In  Maori  lore  every  mountain,  lake,  and 
stream  has  its  romantic  legend.  The  scarred,  grim- 
visaged  Ruapehu,  still  muttering  in  suppressed 
volcanic  anger,  is  the  masterful  and  jealous  lover; 
pensive  Taranaki,  gracefully  snow-draped,  is  tho 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  405 

timid  maid  who  fled  from  his  wrath  to  the  shores 
of  the  Western  sea ;  and  her  tears  are  the  waters  of 
the  broad  Wanganui.  There  is  a  strong  vein  of  the 
Keltic  in  the  Maori  temperament.  His  delight  in. 
colour;  his  instinct  for  the  picturesque;  his  moods, 
ever  changing  from  laughter  to  tears,  from  gleeful 
mirth  to  pensive  melancholy; — these  are  all  Keltic. 
The  tangi  he  holds  over  the  dead  is  but  a  "  wake  " 
at  the  Antipodes ;  the  taniwhas,  with  which  his  fancy 
peoples  lake  and  stream,  but  "  banshees  "  in  a  new 
guise ;  while  his  irresistible  "  blarney "  is  true 
Tipperary. 

Keltic,  too,  is  his  sense  of  art.  His  legends  and 
his  songs,  his  weaving  and  his  carving,  are  among  the 
very  highest  achievements  of  primitive  art.  Maori 
carving  takes  its  place  among  the  greatest  schools  of 
conventional  decorative  art;  his  scroll-work, — the 
dominant  pattern  both  in  wood-carving  and  in  the 
highly  elaborate  Moku  or  tattooing, — imitated  orig- 
inally from  spiral  forms  evolved  in  plaiting  the 
pliant  flax,  only  falls  short  of  the  Ionic  in  perfec- 
tion. Never  representative,  in  the  sense  of  imi- 
tating the  forms  of  plant  or  animal  life,  the  art  of 
the  Maori  devoted  itself  wholly  to  the  elaboration  of 
strictly  conventional  types  of  ornamentation,  and  his 
canoes,  his  weapons,  and  his  dwellings  exhibit  work- 
manship that  embodies  a  high  ideal  of  beauty  and  a 
true  sense  of  line  and  curve. 

Are  there  then  no  grounds  for  hope  in  the  outlook 
for  the  Maori  ?  Must  this  interesting  race,  with  its 
robust  physique,  its  vigorous  intelligence,  its  artistic 
temperament,  inevitably  meet  the  fate  that  has 
already  overtaken  the  aborigines  of  Tasmania  and  is 
as  surely  overtaking  the  Australian  Blacks  ?  On  the 
contrary,  we  believe  there  are  already  agencies  at 


406  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

work  that  will  ultimately  check  the  process  of  decay. 
It  is  impossible  to  predict  with  certainty  the  contin- 
uance of  the  race;  but  it  is  absurd  to  regard  its  ex- 
tinction as  in  some  way  mysteriously  fated  and  in- 
evitably foredoomed ;  or  to  utter  scientific  platitudes 
about  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest "  without  knowing 
or  without  remembering  that  the  Maori,  both 
physically  and  mentally,  is  essentially  "  fit."  The 
decline  in  numbers  may  continue  for  a  generation 
longer;  perhaps  even  for  two.  But  those  who  then 
survive  will  have  assimilated  the  lessons  of  civilisa- 
tion and  have  shaken  off  the  influences  of  barbarism. 
With  renewed  vitality  and  restored  hope,  they  will 
start  the  race  on  its  upward  career,  and  the  Maoris 
will  not  merely  continue  their  existence  as  a  people 
but  will  contribute  abiding  elements  of  strength  to 
the  national  life  of  the  "  Britain  of  the  South." 

Education  is  the  most  potent  of  the  agencies  that 
make  for  amelioration,  and,  happily,  education,  in  its 
scholastic  sense  at  least,  is  making  rapid  progress 
among  the  Maoris.  Wherever  the  people  of  a 
Kainga  are  willing  to  receive  a  schoolmaster,  the 
Government  are  ready  to  send  one.  It  is  not  yet 
practicable  to  make  education  compulsory  among 
them.  But  there  are  already  74  native  village 
schools  where  some  2,500  Maori  children  receive  frea 
primary  education;  others  attend  European  schools 
in  the  vicinity  of  settlements,  and  there  are  in  all 
some  four  thousand  Maori  children  receiving  educa- 
tion in  the  colony.  The  dusky  scholars  prove  apt 
pupils;  they  have  retentive  memories  and  a  facile 
gift  of  drawing  and  penmanship.  The  best  class  of 
men  are  not  always  available  for  native  schools ;  and 
Maori  teachers  are  unfortunately  viewed  with  preju- 
dice and  dislike.  The  grounds  of  that  prejudice 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  407 

furnish  a  curious  illustration  of  one  of  the  many 
difficulties  to  be  met  with  in  the  Maori  character. 
A  Maori  of  rank  would  resent  having  his  child 
"  spanked  "  by  a  native  pedagogue  if  his  pedigree 
were  not  as  long  or  his  blood  as  blue  as  the  offending 
urchin's,  and  the  Native  Education  Department 
hesitates  to  employ  Maori  teachers  from  fear  of  re- 
viving tribal  feuds.  For  the  Maori,  though  a  com- 
munist as  to  property,  is,  in  social  matters,  an  un- 
bending aristocrat. 

There  are  seven  endowed  or  state-aided  boarding 
schools  in  the  colony  where  some  two  hundred  Maoris 
receive  education  of  a  more  advanced  character  than 
that  given  in  the  village  schools.  The  most  notable 
of  these  is  the  Te  Aute  College  in  the  Hawkes  Bay 
district.  Founded  some  twenty  years  ago,  it  now 
ranks  as  one  of  the  best  secondary  schools,  Maori  or 
English,  in  the  colony.  In  a  merely  scholastic 
sense  the  College  has  been  remarkably  successful. 
Many  of  its  boys  matriculate  and  proceed  to  the 
University;  one  of  them,  Mr.  Apirana  Turupu 
Ngata,  M.A.,  LL.B.,  has  attained  the  highest  aca- 
demic honours  yet  won  by  any  of  his  race;  several 
have  been  ordained  clergymen;  others  are  engaged 
in  law  offices  or  hold  posts  in  the  Civil  Service. 
But  Te  Aute  College  has  higher  aims  than  mere 
intellectual  culture :  it  takes  for  its  object  the  moral 
and  social  elevation  of  the  race ;  and  as  a  centre  from 
which  "  sweetness  and  light "  is  slowly  but  surely 
spreading  among  the  Maori  people,  it  is,  in  the  wide 
mediaeval  sense  of  the  word,  a  Maori  "  University." 

Some  few  years  ago  Te  Aute  College  set  on  foot 
a  movement  that,  if  generously  supported  and  wisely 
directed,  is  capable  of  doing  more  than  any  other 
agency  for  the  betterment  of  the  race.  It  gave  birth 


£08  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

to  "  The  Young  Maori  Party."  A  number  of  ear- 
nest and  patriotic  Maoris,  deeply  impressed  with  the 
fate  that  is  threatening  their  race  and  fired  with 
zeal  to  avert  it,  banded  together  as  the  "  Te  Aute 
College  Students'  Association."  It  has  now  been  in 
active  operation  for  four  years  and  its  labours  have 
already  borne  abundant  fruit.  By  means  of  papers 
read  before  the  Annual  Conferences  they  seek  to 
educate  public  opinion,  both  native  and  European, 
to  the  needs  of  the  race,  and  these  essays  on  Maori 
sociology  by  Maori  writers  constitute  the  most  valu- 
able contributions  so  far  made  to  the  literature  of 
the  question.* 

The  members  go  among  their  people  lecturing  on 
cleanliness  and  sanitation ;  where  they  can,  they  get 
the  villagers  to  set  up  Committees  of  Health.  They 
find  employment  for  native  boys  leaving  school,  to 
prevent  their  reversion  to  the  habits  of  the  pa;  and 
they  have  set  up  Maori  Labour  Bureaus  in  various 
centres.  They  endeavour  to  procure  the  training  of 
Maori  nurses  and  Maori  doctors;  they  agitate  for 
the  establishment  of  technical  schools  and  seek  to  in- 
struct the  Maoris  in  the  principles  of  farming. 
They  realise  that  if  the  Maoris  are  to  survive  compe- 
tition with  the  new  industrial  civilisation — they 
must  work;  that  if  education  is  to  be  a  permanent 
benefit — they  must  work.  "  The  gospel  of  work," 
writes  Mr.  I^gata  with  impressive  earnestness,  "  is 
final,  absolute;  there  is  no  alternative  for  us  but  to 
accept  it.  For  if  the  Maori  people  does  not  accept 


*  The  writer  desires  to  make  grateful  acknowledgement  for 
much  information  derived  from  these  papers :  in  particular 
from  the  Essays  by  Rev.  H.  Williams,  and  by  Messrs.  Reweti 
Kohere,  T.  G.  Potutawera,  and  Apirana  Turupu  Ngata. 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  409 

it,  and  that  soon,  then  as  sure  as  Heaven  is  above 
us,  it  will  die  off  from  the  face  of  the  earth." 

There  are  happily  unmistakable  signs  that  the 
Maoris  are  at  length  beginning  to  accept  this  Gospel 
of  work.  The  enumerators  of  the  last  census  find 
that  many  more  Maoris  than  formerly  are  working 
for  Europeans.  In  the  South  Island,  where,  however, 
only  some  two  thousand  Maoris  are  settled,  most  of 
the  natives  are  reported  as  prosperous  and  indus- 
trious. The  JSTgati  Porou  tribe  on  the  East  Coast 
of  the  North  Island  have  taken  to  communal  sheep- 
farming  with  some  success. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  agricultural  progress 
among  the  Maoris  is  gradually  breaking  down.  The 
Native  Lands  Court,  a  cumbrous  and  expensive  piece 
of  machinery,  has  been,  engaged  for  thirty  years  in 
the  complicated  work  of  determining  and  regis- 
tering Maori  land  titles  by  reference  to  native  cus- 
tom. With  the  individualisation  of  titles  thus  ef- 
fected, the  communistic  system  of  ownership  is 
quietly  yet  surely  breaking  up.  With  the  dissolution 
of  the  common  village  life  will  come  the  growth  of 
stronger  independent  effort.  The  Maori,  at  least 
in  these  degenerate  days,  is  constitutionally  indolent ; 
he  needs,  even  more  than  his  white  neighbour,  the 
"  magic  of  property  "  to  make  him  "  turn  sand  into 
gold."  Once  secure  to  him  the  fruits  of  his  individ- 
ual toil,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Maori  should 
not  become  a  hardworking  and  prosperous  farmer. 
With  the  break-up  of  communism,  moreover,  the 
family  will  gradually  become  the  real  unit  of  tribal 
life;  with  the  privacy  of  home  life,  moral  conven- 
tions will  spring  into  existence,  sexual  relations  will 
become  more  decent,  and  Maori  society  be  recon- 
structed on  a  sounder,  healthier  basis. 


410  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

The  "Model  Pa,"  dreamed  of  by  the  Te  Ante 
reformers,  has  still  only  an  Utopian  existence.  The 
tohungas  and  the  ivharepuni  oppose  a  stubborn  re- 
sistance to  the  progress  of  medicine  and  sanitation. 
But  even  in  these  respects  the  Maori  is  advancing. 
Weather-board  cottages,  built  on  the  European 
principles,  are  replacing  the  native  whares  in  the 
more  prosperous  settlements;  and  if  the  visitor  is 
occasionally  distressed  by  finding  a  pig  in  the 
kitchen,  after  seeing  a  piano  in  the  parlour,  he  is 
consoled  by  reflecting  that  these  dwellings  are  at 
least  furnished  with  windows  and  chimneys.  And 
as  their  dwellings  become  better  ventilated,  so  is 
their  food  becoming  more  wholesome.  Putrid  maize 
soaked  in  stagnant  water,  and  morsels  of  dried 
shark's  flesh  carried  about  for  weeks  in  the  same 
pocket  as  a  plug  of  "  Maori  tobacco,"  are  still  delica- 
cies highly  relished  by  the  old  men.  They  are 
happily  long  since  become  "  caviare  to  the  general  " ; 
and  mutton  or  pork,  leeks  and  potatoes  are  regarded 
by  the  younger  generation  as  a  more  nutritious  diet. 

Parihaka,  the  "  Mecca  "  of  the  prophet  Te  Whiti, 
and  scene  of  the  "  demonstration  in  force  "  in  1881, 
is  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  instance  among 
Maori  Kaingas  of  this  progress  in  sanitation  and 
domestic  architecture.  When  Mr.  Bryce's  "  army  " 
approached  Parihaka  through  swamps  and  scrub 
they  found  it  an  ordinary  pa  whose  whares  of  toi  toi 
and  raupo  reeds  contained  even  more  than  the  ordi- 
nary amount  of  dirt.  But,  in  1896,  before  To 
Whiti's  death,  a  Te  Aute  student  went  there  on  a 
tour  of  inspection,  and  in  a  paper  *  written  for  his 
Association,  he  records  his  impressions  of  "  Parihaka 

*  Te  Whiti  and  Pariliaka,  by  Mr.  P.  Buck. 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  41 1 

Revisited."  He  approached  the  pa  by  a  Macada- 
mised bye-road,  laid  out,  levelled,  and  metalled  by 
the  Maoris  themselves  at  their  own  cost.  Nestling 
in  a  hollow  among  the  hills  lay  the  township,  a  col- 
lection of  well-built  wooden  houses,  with  iron  roofs. 
On  a  terrace  overlooking  the  village  stood  Te  Whiti's 
residence; — furnished  with  dining-rooms  and  bath- 
rooms, fitted  up  in  the  best  European  style.  Pari- 
haka  has  its  public  bakery,  its  abattoirs,  and  its 
Town  Hall.  The  people  take  their  meals  in  two 
large  public  dining-rooms.  The  larger  of  these  will 
accommodate  over  a  hundred  guests  at  a  time;  the 
crockery  and  table-ware  are  scrupulously  clean ;  and 
though  bakers  and  butchers  are  natives,  the  chef  is 
a  European  "  artist."  On  the  17th  of  each  month, 
the  "  Sunday  "  in  Te  Whiti's  Calendar,  the  room  is 
filled  again  and  again  with  crowds  of  hungry  "  pil- 
grims to  the  shrine,"  who  discuss  their  food  and  their 
theology  to  the  strains  of  a  brass  band  of  some  thirty 
performers.  The  smaller  of  the  two  public  dining- 
rooms,  the  Ruakura,  is  reserved  for  the  elite  of 
Maori  society.  The  young  reformer  noted  with 
much  concern  the  existence  of  two  billiard-rooms  and 
two  illicit  drinking-saloons  as  blemishes  on  this 
picture  of  civilised  Maoridom.  But  the  cleanliness 
of  Parihaka  was  evidently  grateful  to  his  heart. 
Since  his  visit,  a  system  of  water  supply  and  the 
installation  of  electric  light  has  brought  Te  Whiti's 
pa  into  line  with  the  most  advanced  ideas  of  munic- 
ipal improvement. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Parihaka  is  a 
typical  pa.  To  understand  fully  the  life  of  the 
Maori  at  the  end  of  the  century,  with  its  bizarre  ad- 
mixture of  barbarism  and  civilisation,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  visit  many  pas  and  to  come  into  contact 


412  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

with  many  tribes.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  form 
a  general  conception  of  Maori  society,  in  its  external 
aspects  at  least,  by  attending  a  Maori  "  Parliament." 
These  are  gatherings  held  from  time  to  time  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  North  Island.  They  have,  of 
course,  neither  legal  nor  political  status ;  they  are  in- 
formal assemblies  called  by  the  chiefs  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ventilating  some  grievance  or  discussing  some 
proposed  legislation.  They  are  an  extremely  popu- 
lar institution;  and  are  sometimes  attended  by  two 
or  three  thousand  Maoris,  drawn  from  a  distance, 
often,  of  several  hundred  miles.  The  attraction  for 
the  Maoris  lies  in  the  opportunity  for  indulging  their 
innate  love  of  talking  and  for  exercising  their  great 
natural  gifts  of  oratory;  for  they  love  speech-mak- 
ing, if  that  be  possible,  even  more  than  horse-racing. 
It  is  the  ambition  of  every  Kainga  to  be,  at  least 
once  in  its  history,  the  meeting  place  of  a  "  Parlia- 
ment " ;  and  in  order  to  enjoy  the  coveted  honour, 
the  villagers  will  gladly  feed  two  or  three  thousand 
guests  for  a  week  on  end,  and  as  cheerfully  starve 
themselves  for  the  next  three  years  in  consequence. 

In  the  summer  of  1891  the  writer  and  a  friend 
were  present  at  a  "  Parliament "  at  Parakino,  on  the 
Wanganui. 

For  two  days  we  had  paddled  down  the  great 
forest  river;  past  the  island  of  Moutua  where  Hai- 
mona  Hiroti  and  his  gallant  friendlies  fought  the 
good  fight  with  the  Hau-Hau  madmen ;  over  swirl- 
ing rapids  which  the  canoe  skims  like  a  sea-mew 
while  the  Maori  steersman  laughs  with  glee  at  the 
white  face  of  his  pakeha  passenger ;  under  blue-grey 
papa  cliffs,  with  here  and  there  a  village  perched  in 
a  forest  clearing,  Atene,  Coriti,  Ranana, — Athens, 
Corinth,  London,  the  Jesuit  missionaries  with  sly 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  413 

humour  named  them.  Here  the  cliffs  rise  sheer 
a  hundred  feet  or  more;  there  river  and  forest  meet 
at  the  water's  edge  and  the  banks  are  a  tangled  glory 
of  fern  and  moss  and  lichen.  Here  a  streamlet 
bustles  through  rustling  flax  or  fern  to  join  the  river; 
there  it  tumbles  headlong  over  the  cliff  and  tosses  its 
glittering  spray  upon  the  water.  From  the  depths 
of  the  forest  comes  the  liquid  song  of  the  parson 
bird ;  while  over  the  water  come  the  voices  of  women 
chanting  their  wai-ata,  or  boatsong,  as  they  paddle 
with  rhythmic  grace  down  the  reaches  of  the  river. 

"  Land  of  forests  richly  sweeping 

By  the  rata's  red  fire  spangled  ; 
Where  at  noonday  night  is  sleeping, 
Where  beneath  the  creepers  tangled 
Come  the  tui's  liquid  calls 
And  the  plash  of  water-falls."  * 

Lower  down  the  river,  but  before  it  broadens  out 
on  the  plain  and  while  yet  the  bush-clad  hills  enclose 
it,  lies  Parakino,  a  small  hamlet  perched  on  the  left 
bank,  which  is  here  so  high  and  steep  that  the  vil- 
lagers descend  to  their  canoes  by  ladders  or  by  steps 
cut  in  the  cliff-face.  At  ordinary  times  there  are 
probably  not  more  than  200  souls  in  Parakino ;  this 
day  there  were  close  upon  two  thousand,  camped  in 
tents  upon  the  hillsides  or  close-packed  in  the  smoky 
whares.  They  had  travelled  from  far  and  near  to 
be  present  at  the  "  Parliament " ;  many  had  come 
down  stream  in  their  canoes ;  some  had  come  by  train 
and  river-steamer  from  the  Wairarapa  Valley; 
others  had  ridden,  men  and  women,  a  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  or  more  from  the  settlements  in  the 
Hawkes  Bay  district. 

We  arrived  on  the  last  day  of  the  "  Parliament " 
*  Arthur  H.  Adams,  Maoriland  and  other  Verse. 


414:  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

and  heard  the  closing  Korero  (talk).  The  meeting, 
fortunately,  was  not  held  in  the  reeking  Runanga 
House,  but  in  the  open  air.  The  spectators  were 
squatted  on  the  ground  in  a  ring — a  motley  crowd. 
Here  a  mother,  in  cotton  petticoat  of  brilliant  red 
or  orange,  her  baby  slung  in  a  shawl  across  her 
shoulders,  puffed  at  her  clay  pipe  and  blew  the  reek 
into  the  eyes  of  her  piccaninny;  there  an  old  man. 
his  wrinkled  face  tattooed  like  a  carpet  pattern,  hud- 
dled in  a  Korowai  mat,  ruminating  his  quid  of 
shark's  flesh;  young  bucks,  with  plated  spurs  and 
meerschaum  pipes,  ogled  the  bright-eyed,  flat-nosed 
belles  of  the  village,  beribboned  and  bedizened  in 
their  bravest  finery.  But  the  crowd  was  orderly  and 
attentive ;  the  slightest  disturbance  was  immediately 
quelled  by  a  fierce-looking  hunchback,  who,  armed 
with  a  dissonant  dinner-bell,  acted  "  Sergeant-at- 
arms  "  to  the  "  Parliament." 

The  three  speakers  who  brought  the  debate  to  a 
close  were  strikingly  typical,  one  of  civilisation,  one 
of  barbarism,  and  the  third  of  a  grotesque  compound 
of  both.  The  first  was  a  perfect  type  of  a  polished 
Maori  gentleman,  Tunuiarangi — his  name  itself  a 
patent  of  nobility.  He  was  a  singularly  handsome 
man,  past  middle  age,  with  a  military  bearing  and  a 
fine  distinction  of  manner;  every  feature  stamped 
him  an  aristocrat.  Each  detail  of  his  dress — his 
silk-hat,  his  well-fitting  frock  coat,  his  gold  pince-nez 
and  his  suede  gloves — was  suggestive  of  fastidious 
elegance.  He  would  have  passed  in  London  for  a 
sunburned  Anglo-Indian,  tailorised  in  Bond  Street. 
His  style  in  speaking  was  fluent  and  impressive  yet 
reposeful;  the  rich  vowel-sounds  of  his  language 
were  uttered  in  a  pleasing  and  musical  voice ;  except 
for  an  occasional  graceful  movement  with  the  right 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.    415 

hand,  he  used  no  gesture.  The  next  speaker,  Te 
Kirikau,  was  a  man  of  a  totally  different  stamp; 
but  he,  too,  was  a  noble  and  notable  Maori.  An  old 
man,  he  evidently  belonged  also  to  the  old  school. 
His  face  was  scarred  with  Moku  patterns,  and  from 
his  right  ear  depended,  by  a  black  silk  ribbon,  a  huge 
greenstone  pendant  and  a  shark's  tooth.  Pie  had  so 
far  compromised  with  civilisation  as  to  wear  a  Euro- 
pean suit  of  clothes;  but  over  his  shoulders  drooped 
gracefully  a  Korowai  or  flax-mat,  covered  with 
strips  of  dog-skin.  In  his  hand  he  held  a  taiaha^, 
the  six-foot  wooden  spear,  elaborately  carved,  which 
the  chiefs  of  old  used  equally  in  war  and  debate,  to 
slay  a  foe  or  accentuate  an  argument.  He  spoke 
with  burning  vehemence,  his  voice  rising  and  falling 
in  rhythmic  modulation,  his  flowing  periods  punctu- 
ated by  stamp  of  foot  or  flourish  of  taiaha ;  scorn  and 
anger,  humour  and  pity  played  alternately  on  his 
rugged  yet  expressive  features;  and  when  he  con- 
cluded he  left  his  audience  thrilled  with  excitement 
in  which  even  his  English  hearers,  without  under- 
standing him,  visibly  shared.  The  strain  was  soon 
relieved  by  the  next  speaker,  regarded  evidently  as 
the  comedian  of  the  assembly.  He  too,  was  fluent 
enough — Isaeo  torrentior, — what  Maori  is  not? — 
but  he  neither  was  nor  sought  to  be  impressive.  His 
Maori  hearers  laughed  at  his  jokes,  the  Europeans 
found  more  to  smile  at  in  his  costume.  His  head 
was  covered  by  a  broad  panama  hat,  with  a  light-blue 
puggery  around  it;  he  further  protected  himself 
from  the  sun  by  a  lady's  parasol ;  on  his  feet  were  a 
pair  of  tight-fitting  patent-leather  boots ;  but  between 
these  extremities  he  wore  one  garment  only,  remark- 
able more  for  simplicity  than  warmth, — a  white  cot- 
ton night-shirt. 


416  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

Two  men,  notable  in  Maori  history,  were  present 
at  this  parliament  and  their  meeting  was  strikingly 
significant  of  the  conflict  of  the  Old  and  the  New  in 
this  transition  stage  of  Maori  society,  Kepa  Te 
Rangi-Hiwinui  (Major  Kemp)  and  Te  Kooti. 
Kemp  had,  from  the  first,  foreseen  the  inevitable 
issue  of  the  struggle  between  barbarism  and  civili- 
sation and  had  thrown  his  weight  into  the  heavier 
scale.  A  loyal  chief  and  gallant  soldier  of  the 
Queen,  his  name  will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the 
staunchest  friends  of  the  English  in  the  long  and 
bitter  struggle.  Te  Kooti  remained  to  the  last  the 
daring  and  stubborn  champion  of  his  own  people; 
and  his  association  with  the  Poverty  Bay  Massacre 
makes  his  name  still  execrated  in  the  North.  But 
the  Government  had  amnestied  his  offences;  and 
now  Kemp  the  loyalist  and  Te  Kooti  the  rebel  met 
on  a  common  footing.  The  "  Parliament "  con- 
cluded with  a  Tiaka  or  war-dance.  Night  was  far 
advanced  before  the  dancers  had  concluded  their 
preparations  and  rehearsal.  At  length  they  issued 
from  the  Runanga  House — sixty  to  seventy  magnifi- 
cient  savages,  naked  but  for  their  loin-mats,  and 
with  their  bodies  fantastically  painted  in  white  and 
red  pigments.  Te  Kooti,  old  as  he  was,  took  his  place 
as  leader ;  and  a  band  of  women  joined  as  auxiliaries. 
These  intoned  a  weird,  monotonous  chant  and  then 
the  first  movement  of  the  dance  began.  They  kept 
time  with  a  precision  which  only  incessant  practice 
from  childhood  could  have  taught  them.  They  rolled 
their  heads,  moved  their  hands  backwards  and  for- 
wards with  a  quivering  motion,  smote  their  breasts 
and  stamped  their  feet,  protruded  their  tongues  and 
cried  their  hoarse  defiance,  gasping  and  gurgling  in 
a  frenzy  of  excitement,  and  all  with  a  perfect  rhythm 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  417 

of  sound  and  action.  The  women  looked  like  in- 
spired Sibyls,  the  men  like  infuriated  demons.  In 
the  flickering  light  of  the  flambeaux  it  reminded  one 
of  the  dance  of  the  witches  that  Tarn  O'Shanter  saw 
through  the  windows  of  Alloway  Kirk.  At  the  close 
of  the  dance,  Te  Kooti  and  Kemp  exchanged  pres- 
ents and  good  wishes  and  parted  to  meet  no  more 
on  this  side  Reinga.  Both  have  since  died. 

The  resolution  at  which  the  natives  arrived  as  the 
result  of  a  week's  Korero  was  the  customary  one 
which  no  Maori  "  Parliament "  ever  fails  to  pass — 
and  pass  unanimously:  that  the  Natives  shall  sell 
no  more  lands  to  the  pdkeha.  The  Government  of- 
ficial, who  was  present  to  watch  and  report  the  pro- 
ceedings, had,  during  a  period  of  ten  years,  heard  the 
same  resolution  passed  unanimously  half-a-dozen 
times  by  as  many  different  "  parliaments  " ;  during 
the  same  period  he  had  purchased  over  four  million 
acres  of  native  lands  for  the  state.  The  Maoris  rea- 
lise the  importance  of  retaining  their  lands ;  but  the 
temptation  of  ready  cash  proves  too  strong  for  their 
patriotism.  Since  1894  the  Government  has  re- 
sumed the  original  right  of  pre-emption,  established 
in  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi,  but  waived  in  1867".  This 
protects  the  Maori  from  the  depredations  of  "  land- 
sharks  "  or  private  speculators ;  but  the  exclusion 
of  competition  enables  the  Government  to  buy  at 
its  own  price.  The  more  thoughtful  Maoris  approve 
of  the  present  administration  of  the  Land  Purchase 
Department;  but  they  are  agitating  for  legislation 
to  compel  the  Maoris  to  reserve  from  alienation  land 
sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  themselves  and 
their  families.  Such  legislation  would  not  be  re- 
garded as  an  undue  interference  with  the  liberty  of 
the  Maori  subject ;  and  would  effectually  protect  him 

2B 


418  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

from  the  disastrous  results  of  his  own  improvident 
folly. 

These  Maori  meetings  have  in  the  past  been  pro- 
ductive of  little  good.  Informal  in  their  character 
and  haphazard  in  their  constitution,  their  delibera- 
tions and  resolutions  have  had  little  effect  either  on 
Maori  opinion  or  on  the  trend  of  Colonial  legisla- 
tion. There  are,  however,  proposals  at  present  before 
the  Houses  of  Parliament  for  giving  the  Natives 
some  measure  of  local  government.  An  imperium  in 
imperio  would  be  a  manifest  absurdity;  and  it  is 
not  intended  to  give  the  Maoris  political  power  in- 
dependent of  the  colonial  legislature.  But  it  is  pro- 
posed to  set  up  Native  Committees  to  deal  with 
purely  native  questions  of  a  social,  sanitary  and 
municipal  character.  And  this  measure  of  Maori 
Home  Rule  may  do  much  towards  restoring  to  the 
race  its  impaired  self-respect  and  pride  of  nation- 
ality. It  is  in  fact  the  response  to  a  spontaneous 
movement  among  the  Natives  themselves  in  favour 
of  unity — Kotahitanga — national  oneness.  The  old 
tribal  enmities  still  exist.  The  Ngatiporou  have 
not  forgotten  the  raids  of  the  Ngapuhi ;  the  Waikato 
tribes  are  still  regarded  with  lingering  dislike.  But 
the  old  grudges  grow  weaker  year  by  year;  for  civi- 
lisation presses  with  the  same  relentless  force  on  all 
the  race,  irrespective  of  tribe  or  hapu.  Though  the 
movement  may  owe  its  origin  to  a  patched-up  peace 
in  the  face  of  political  exigencies,  it  represents  an 
underlying  conception  of  the  fusion  of  tribes  and  the 
obliteration  of  old  jealousies.  Should  it  result  in 
the  growth  of  a  genuine  national  sentiment,  the 
movement  is  pregnant  with  possibilities  for  the 
Maori.  The  social  isolation  of  the  hapus  has  led 
to  stagnation  and  poverty  of  blood ;  the  Kotahitanga 


THE  MAORI  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  CENTURY.  419 

will  result  in  intercommunication  and  conjugal  al- 
liances that  may  restore  the  languishing  vitality  of 
the  race.  Their  political  isolation  has  led  to  waste 
of  effort  and  ineffectual  agitation;  the  Kotahitanga 
will  erect  them  into  a  political  unit  able  to  speak 
with  one  voice  and  act  with  one  will.  The  Kotahi- 
tanga is  a  new  factor  in  the  solution  of  the  Maori 
problem.  It  may  enable  the  race  to  snatch  from  the 
new  civilisation  something  of  its  buoyancy,  and  to 
float  on  the  eddying  current  that  now  threatens  to 
engulf  it. 


420  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 


CHAPTEK  XXX. 

THE    ISLAND   BACE. 

"  Once  more  this  autumn  Earth  is  ripe, 
Parturient  of  another  type." 

THE  New  Zealanders  have  not  yet  developed 
characteristic  traits  sufficiently  marked  to  make 
them  distinguishable  from  other  members  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  family.  The  Island  Race  is  still  in  its 
cradle ;  and  it  would  be  rash  to  describe  as  distinctive 
the  features  of  babyhood.  It  is  only  safe  at  present 
to  assert  that  it  is  a  remarkably  healthy  infant  and 
strongly  resembles  its  parents.  But  we  know  its 
ancestry;  we  know  the  nursery  in  which  it  will  be 
reared,  the  school  in  which  it  will  be  trained ;  and 
we  may,  without  temerity,  predict  for  it  a  happy,  a 
vigorous,  and  even  a  glorious  manhood.  The  dusky 
navigators  from  Hawaiiki,  who  settled  in  these 
islands,  grew,  in  the  course  of  three  centuries,  to  a 
stature  of  mind  and  body  which  no  branch  of  the 
Polynesian  race  has  approached  elsewhere.  What 
limits,  then,  can  we  assign  to  the  possible  develop- 
ment of  an  off-shoot  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  the 
same  natural  environment  ?  "  If  it  is  written  in 
the  book  of  destiny,"  said  Froude,  "that  the  Eng- 
lish nation  has  still  within  it  great  men  who  will 
take  their  place  among  the  demigods,  I  can  well 
believe  that  it  will  be  in  the  inexhaustible  soil  and 
spiritual  capabilities  of  New  Zealand  that  the  great 


THE  ISLAND  RACE.  421 

English  poets,  artists,  philosophers,  statesmen,  sol- 
diers of  the  future  will  be  nurtured." 

The  New  Zealanders  are  essentially  a  British 
stock;  not  English  or  Scotch  or  Irish,  but  all  three. 
For  these  elements  intermingle  much  more  com- 
pletely here  than  in  the  population  of  the  United 
Kingdom.  It  is  true  the  Canterbury  province  is 
still  more  decidedly  English  and  the  Otago  province 
still  more  decidedly  Scotch  than  other  parts  of  the 
colony.  But  the  traces  thus  left  of  their  original 
settlement  by  English  and  Scotch  associations  are 
fast  disappearing.  The  stock  from  which  the  New 
Zealanders  are  sprung  is  not  only  British,  but  the 
best  British.  The  pioneers  brought  out  by  the 
original  colonising  associations  were  the  very  pick 
of  their  class;  and  though  less  discrimination  was 
used  in  selecting  State-aided  immigrants  in  the 
days  of  the  Public  Works  Policy,  the  yeomen  and 
artisans  who  decided  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  the 
Antipodes  were  necessarily  possessed  of  courage  and 
enterprise  and  will-power  in  a  degree  above  the 
average  of  their  neighbours.  Nor  had  New  Zealand, 
like  some  of  the  other  colonies,  a  "  birthstain  "  to 
turn  to  good,  "  forcing  strong  wills,  perverse,  to 
steadfastness." 

Of  the  total  population  of  740,000  whites,  more 
than  half  are  already  native-born.  The  British  ele- 
ment amounts  to  97  per  cent  of  the  whole;  and  of 
the  19,000  foreigners  at  present  settled  in  the  colony 
the  majority  are  either  Germans,  Scandinavians,  or 
Danes, — cousins  in  blood  to  the  Anglo-Saxons  and, 
next  to  them,  probably  the  most  successful  colonis- 
ing nations.  The  only  undesirable  element  in  the 
population  is  the  Chinese.  Of  these  there  are  at 
present  3,464  living  in  the  colony;  but  they  do  not 


423  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

mingle  socially  or  industrially  with  the  rest  of  the 
population;  less  than  100  of  them  have  wives;  and 
their  numbers  are  rapidly  decreasing; — while  any 
further  influx  ia  barred  by  the  sufficiently  drastic 
expedient  of  a  poll-tax  of  £100  on  all  new  arrivals. 

So  far  as  the  development  of  a  race  is  influenced 
by  the  natural  features  of  the  land  in  which  it  is 
reared,  the  New  Zealanders  are  abundantly  blessed. 
They  do  not  wither  under  the  copper  skies  of  Aus- 
tralian noons  or  peak  in  the  muggy  heat  of  Aus- 
tralian nights.  The  climate  is  much  like  that  in  the 
land  from  which  their  fathers  came,  sunnier  only 
and  less  rigorous  in  its  winters.  More  than  half  of 
them  live  within  sound  of  the  sea ;  and  very  few  of 
them  are  more  than  a  day's  journey  from  the  ocean. 
The  broken  coast,  with  its  infinite  variety  of  bays 
and  fiords  and  harbours,  will  be  the  nursery  of  a  race 
of  seafarers.  New  Zealand  shepherds  muster  their 
flocks  in  summer  on  mountains  which  the  tourist 
attacks  in  winter  armed  with  rope  and  alpenstock. 
Her  mountains,  with  their  glaciers  and  canons  and 
cascades,  rival  in  grandeur  the  Alps  of  Switzer- 
land; Norway  has  no  finer  fiords  than  the  West 
Coast  Sounds ;  her  geysers  and  volcanoes  far  surpass 
the  wonders  of  Iceland.  Nature  has  lavished  on 
the  home  of  the  New  Zealanders  all  that  goes  to 
harden  the  thews  and  quicken  the  imagination  of  a 
race. 

More  than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  population  live 
in  the  country  or  in  villages  with  less  than  5,000 
inhabitants.*  In  several  of  the  Australian  colonies 
nearly  half  of  the  population  is  concentrated  in 
their  capital  cities.  The  geographical  configuration 

*  The  Long  White  Cloud,  W.  P,  Reeres. 


THE  ISLAND  RACE.  423 

of  the  country  and  the  circumstances  of  its  settle- 
ment have,  happily,  saved  New  Zealand  from  this 
fate.  There  is  no  marked  tendency  here  for  popula- 
tion to  become  congested  in  cities.  There  are  in 
fact  no  cities.  Wellington  is  the  capital,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  the  seat  of  Government.  But  Auckland, 
Christchurch  and  Dunedin  exceed  it  in  population 
and  rival  it  in  commercial  importance.  The  popula- 
tion of  these  four  centres  ranges  from  47,000  to 
63,000.  New  Zealand  is  thus  without  a  metropolis, 
and  seems  likely  to  remain  so.  It  loses  thereby 
the  advantage  of  having  an  urban  centre  of  culture 
and  fashion.  But  it  gains  in  provincial  simplicity 
of  life  and  in  the  health  of  its  inhabitants.  Even  in 
the  towns  population  is  spread  over  a  large  area. 
"  Slums  "  are  practically  unknown  in  them.  The 
people  live,  not  in  flats,  or  courts,  or  "  semi-detached 
tenements,"  but  in  cottages  and  villas  with  plenty 
of  open  space  and  garden-ground  around  them;  the 
proportion  of  people  to  each  house  is  less  than  five.* 
It  is  not  surprising,  under  such  circumstances,  that 
the  death-rate  in  New  Zealand  (9.84  per  1000)  is 
lower  than  in  any  of  the  Australian  Colonies  or  in 
any  of  the  Countries  of  Europe;  that  the  average 
New  Zealand  man  is  a  sturdy,  strong-knit,  fresh- 
faced  Briton ;  and  that  the  average  New  Zealand 
woman,  if  inferior  in  grace  of  carriage  and  delicacy 
of  hue  to  her  English  sister,  is  usually,  like  Tenny- 
son's women  in  "  The  Princess,"  "  blowsed  with 
health." 

In  the  matter  of  religion,  the  New  Zealanders 

are,  like  all  Anglo-Saxons,  eclectic;  some  sixty  to 

seventy  varieties  of  believers  and  non-believers  are 

specified  in  the  census  returns.    There  is,  of  course, 

*  The  Long  White  Cloud,  W.  P.  Reeves. 


424       PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

no  State  church,  the  various  denominations  being 
self-supporting;  the  ministry  is,  in  consequence, 
probably  the  worst  paid  profession  in  the  colony. 
The  adherents  of  the  Church  of  England  number 
40  per  cent  of  the  population;  Presbyterians  22 
per  cent;  Roman  Catholic  14  per  cent,  and  Meth- 
odists 10  per  cent.  About  one  fourth  of  the  popula- 
tion appear  to  attend  places  of  worship, — of  which 
there  are  close  upon  2,000  in  the  colony.  Though 
the  State  System  of  education  is  purely  secular, 
116,000  persons  are  attendants  at  Sunday  Schools. 

The  New  Zealanders,  judged  by  statistics,  may 
fairly  be  described  as  a  sober,  law-abiding  people. 
From  the  zeal  of  the  advocates  for  Prohibition  of 
the  Liquor  Traffic,  a  question  that  has  been  a  dis- 
turbing element  in  the  politics  of  the  last  decade, 
it  might  be  inferred  that  drunkenness  is  a  serious 
national  vice.  Tested,  however,  both  by  the  Na- 
tional "  Drink  Bill,"  and  by  the  percentage  of 
convictions  in  the  Courts  for  drunkenness,  New 
Zealand  compares  more  than  favourably  with  most 
other  portions  of  the  Empire.  Gambling  is  a  more 
widespread  habit;  the  law  prohibits  sweepstakes 
and  regards  the  book-maker  with  dislike;  but  the 
State  does  not  scruple  to  draw  revenue  by  a  tax  on 
the  "  totalisator," — an  automatic  betting  machine 
in  use  on  all  New  Zealand  race-courses;  and  even 
the  acquisition  of  "  land  for  the  people,"  on  the  free 
selection  principle,  is  a  legalised  gamble,  the  claims 
of  applicants  for  sections  being  determined  by  bal- 
loting. 

By  far  the  most  serious  social  evil,  however, — one 
by  which  the  development  of  the  race  is  gravely 
threatened, — is  that  indicated  in  the  vital  statistics 
for  the  colony.  The  birth-rate  has  been  steadily  de- 


THE  ISLAND  RACE.  425 

creasing  since  1881.  In  that  year  it  stood  at  37.3 
per  1000;  in  1898,  at  25.7.  In  all  the  colonies  the 
number  of  children  to  a  marriage  tends  to  decrease. 
But  while,  in  1880,  New  Zealand  had  the  highest 
birth-rate  of  all  the  Australasian  colonies,  it  has 
now,  with  the  exception  of  South  Australia,  the 
lowest.  The  proportion  of  illegitimate  births,  more- 
over, shows  an  increase,  having  risen  from  3.12  per 
cent  in  1886  to  4.48  per  cent  in  1896. 

Progress  and  Poverty,  happily,  do  not  go  hand 
in  hand  in  New  Zealand.  With  a  population  of 
under  three  quarters  of  a  million,  the  aggregate 
private  wealth  amounts  to  £170,000.  This  repre- 
sents £238  per  head — an  average  surpassed  in 
Great  Britain,  indeed,  but  not  equalled  by  any  for- 
eign nation.  New  Zealand  has  a  poor,  but  not  a 
pauper,  class, — none,  practically,  of  those  who,  de- 
scendants of  paupers,  are  themselves  begetters  of 
paupers.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  no  million- 
aires, and  very  few  private  incomes  reach  to  £10,- 
000  a  year.  New  Zealanders  occupy  the  enviable 
position  of  enjoying  the  largest  average  income  of 
any  people  in  the  world,  and,  in  spite  of  the  cheap- 
ness of  provisions,  they  spend  annually  more  money 
on  food,  drink  and  clothing  than  any  other  people, 
the  average  per  head  being  £35  as  compared  with 
£32  in  the  United  States  and  £29  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  Lavish  in  their  expenditure,  they  are 
yet  by  no  means  reckless  of  the  future ;  £5,000,000 
lodged  in  the  Savings  Banks  represent  the  savings 
of  thrifty  people  belonging  for  the  most  part  to  the 
•wage-earning  and  professional  classes.*  Perhaps 

*  The  writer  is  indebted  for  most  of  these  statistics  to 
"  Addresses"  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Roper,  President  of  the  Canterbury 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  1896-7. 


426  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  best  proof  of  the  combination  of  high  spending- 
power  and  thrift  among  the  New  Zealanders,  and, 
consequently,  of  the  general  prosperity,  is  the  sig- 
nificant fact  that  the  amount  paid  per  head  of  pop- 
ulation in  racing  stakes,  and  the  amount  paid  per 
head  of  population  in  Life  Assurance  Premiums, 
are  alike  the  highest  in  the  world. 

Nor  is  the  well-being  of  the  New  Zealander  to 
be  measured  merely  by  a  monetary  standard.  De- 
mocracy is  here  in  a  fair  way  to  realising  the  high 
ideal:  a  free  career  to  all  the  talents.  The  New 
Zealander  "with  ability  has  fewer  obstacles  than  most 
men  in  bringing  his  personal  qualifications  to  mar- 
ket. The  State  provides  for  his  education  in  his 
earlier  years ;  if  he  has  brains  and  application  above 
the  average,  he  may  go  through  a  course  of  secondary 
education,  still  without  cost;  while  the  University 
includes  among  its  most  distinguished  graduates 
men  who  possessed  but  the  narrowest  means.  The 
res  angusta  domi,  of  which  Juvenal  wrote  with  so 
much  bitterness,  is  not  here  an  insuperable  obstacle 
to  a  successful  life.  The  learned  professions,  law, 
journalism,  teaching  and  the  Church,  oppose  no  bar- 
riers to  a  man  of  brains,  nor,  for  that  matter,  with 
the  exception  of  the  last,  to  a  woman,  either.  Per- 
haps the  most  striking  illustration  of  the  "  open 
door  policy  "  to  talent  adopted  in  New  Zealand  is 
the  career  of  the  present  premier,  the  Hon.  R.  J. 
Seddon,  P.O.  With  few  advantages  of  education, 
and  none  of  wealth,  he  began  life  in  New  Zealand 
as  a  working  miner  on  the  West  Coast  Diggings; 
finding  brains  more  profitable  than  muscle  and  the 
tongue  a  better  instrument  than  the  shovel,  he  soon 
became  the  agent  and  adviser  of  his  fellow  miners 
and  their  advocate  in  the  Warden's  Court.  His 


THE  ISLAND  RACE.  427 

sterling  qualities  gained  their  complete  confidence; 
and,  after  some  preliminary  experience  in  the  con- 
duct of  local  affairs,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the 
Kumara  Electorate  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
His  career  in  Parliament  was  marked  by  the  same 
success,  and  he  has  now  filled  the  post  of  Premier 
for  more  than  seven  years,  a  longer  period  of  office 
than  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other  colonial 
premier;  while  his  wise  statesmanship  in  connec- 
tion with  New  Zealand's  assistance  in  the  Transvaal 
War  has  extended  his  reputation  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  colony.  There  could  be  no  more  striking 
example  of  the  facility  with  which  a  man  of  true 
"  grit "  can  force  his  way  to  the  front  in  New 
Zealand  than  the  triumphant  progress  of  Richard 
Seddon  from  Digger's  Hut  to  Privy  Council, 

Probably  the  majority  of  the  colonists  who  have 
been  most  successful  in  commerce,  the  professions 
or  public  life  had  humble  origins.  All  things  are 
possible  here  to  the  sapiens;  he  is  potentially 
"  Sutor  et  bonus  et  solus  formosus  et  est  rex."  One 
of  our  legislators  spends  his  leisure  in  lighting  the 
street-lamps  in  the  borough  he  represents  in  Parlia- 
ment; another,  in  the  intervals  of  Parliamentary 
duties,  follows  the  avocation  of  a  cobbler.  The  col- 
ony, too,  can  boast  its  Cincinnatus.  One  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Upper  House  of  the  legislature  is  by 
trade  a  boiler-maker ;  when  he  was  "  called  to  the 
Lords  "  the  messenger,  bearing  the  Governor's  war- 
rant of  appointment,  found  him  inside  a  boiler,  in 
a  suit  of  rusty  dungaree,  manfully  hammering  at 
the  rivets. 

The  New  Zealanders  are  great  travellers ;  there  is 
probably  no  part  of  the  world  where  sea-travelling 
is  so  common  and  so  frequent  among  all  classes  of 


428  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  community.  The  geographical  configuration  of 
the  country  and  the  distribution  of  its  urban  popu- 
lation in  four  centres,  Auckland  and  Wellington  in 
the  North  Island,  Christchurch  and  Dunedin  in  the 
South,  are  of  course  responsible  for  this.  The  Sen- 
ate of  the  University,  the  Synods,  Assemblies  and 
Conferences  of  different  churches ;  the  annual 
gatherings  of  Friendly  Societies,  Sports,  Associa- 
tions, Commercial  organisations — all  of  these  are 
peripatetic,  and  yearly  draw  large  numbers  of  people 
to  each  of  the  principal  towns  in  turn.  Athletic 
contests  alone  are  responsible  for  hundreds  of  young 
men  making  sea-trips  every  year.  An  Aucklander 
thinks  nothing  of  taking  steamer  to  Dunedin  merely 
to  play  in  a  football  match,  though  the  journey  takes 
nearly  as  long  as  the  passage  from  Liverpool  to  New 
York.  This  cannot  be  without  great  influence  in 
making  the  race  quick-witted,  sociable  and  self-re- 
liant; while  the  constant  intercommunication  be- 
tween different  parts  of  the  colony  prevents  the 
growth  of  provincial  peculiarities.  The  average 
New  Zealander  is  indistinguishable  from  the  average 
Englishman;  but  the  extremes  between  which  the 
average  is  struck  are  here  less  divergent.  The  pro- 
fessional man  is  not  so  well  tailorised;  the  woman 
in  society  not  so  elegantly  gowned,  as  in  England; 
but  the  working  classes  are  much  better  dressed  here ; 
the  maid  frequently  wears  finer  clothes  than  her 
mistress ;  and  shop  and  factory  girls  in  New  Zealand 
often  ride  to  business  on  bicycles.  Froude  found 
the  New  Zealandera  characterised  by  a  "  certain 
republican  equality  of  manners."  Social  distinc- 
tions are  now  more  marked  than  in  the  days  of  the 
pioneer  settlers.  The  time  is  gone  by. when  "sta- 
tion-hands "  swore  at  their  bullock-teams  in  Greek  j 


THE  ISLAND  RACE.  429 

when  the  driver  of  the  stage-coach  quoted  Virgil  to 
the  Bishop  on  the  box;  or  when  the  ostler  who 
groomed  jour  horse  proved  to  be  an  "  unfortunate 
nobleman."  Incidents  such  as  that  of  a  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  finding  himself  unable  to  go 
home  from  a  ball  as  early  as  he  wished,  because,  as 
he  explained  to  his  host,  "  Your  daughter  is  dancing 
with  my  cabby  " — no  longer  occur  in  New  Zealand 
society.  The  "  classes  "  have  somehow  managed  to 
sort  themselves  in  the  Colony;  but  there  is  between 
them,  as  yet,  no  "  great  gulf  fixed,"  which  cannot 
be  bridged  by  the  discreetly  ambitious. 

The  New  Zealanders  have  so  far  remained  more 
distinctly  English  than,  perhaps,  is  the  case  in  some 
of  the  larger  colonies.  The  literature  they  read  is, 
with  the  exception  of  the  local  newspapers,  almost 
entirely  English;  all  classes,  whether  immigrant  or 
native-born,  habitually  speak  of  the  United  Kingdom 
as  "  Home."  There  are  so  far  no  alarming  signs  of 
a  colonial  "  twang  "  or  of  dialectic  peculiarities  in 
their  speech.  A  few  expressive  terms  have  been 
adopted  into  daily  speech  from  Maori — whare  (a 
hut),  pa  (a.  village),  and  mana  (prestige)  are  ex- 
amples ;  some  few  mining  terms  have  been  imported 
from  California ;  certain  words  relating  to  pastoral 
pursuits  are  Australian;  but  a  New  Zealander's 
English  is  still  the  Queen's  English  and  he  has  hap- 
pily so  far  evinced  no  ambition  to  be  considered 
original  either  in  his  slang  or  his  orthography.  In 
their  sports,  too,  as  in  all  things  else,  the  New  Zea- 
landers are  consistently  loyal  to  British  traditions. 
All  British  games  are  played  in  the  colony,  and  are 
played  under  British  rules;  there  has  been  no  at- 
tempt here  as  in  some  other  colonies  to  vary  the 
rules  of  sport  from  accepted  English  standards,  and 


430  PROGRESS  OP  NEW  ZEALAND. 

the  few  foreign  games  that  have  been  introduced 
from  time  to  time  have  died  young. 

The  "  Eight-hours  day "  established  by  custom, 
and  the  weekly  half-holiday  enforced  by  law,  leave 
the  New  Zealanders  abundant  leisure  for  physical 
and  mental  recreation.  They  are  quite  as  fond  as  the 
Australians  of  outdoor  sports,  though  they  have 
not  yet,  like  them,  won  distinction  on  the  cricket- 
fields  of  England.  If  any  one  form  of  outdoor  re- 
creation is  entitled  to  the  distinction  of  being  re- 
garded as  the  national  sport,  it  must  be  horse-racing. 
Maoris  and  Britons  are  alike  keen  devotees  of  the 
turf.  The  N.  Z.  Turf  Kegister  records  the  names 
of  more  than  80  Racing  and  Trotting  Clubs  through- 
out the  Colony.  During  the  year  1898-9  they  held 
no  less  than  234  meetings  and  paid  in  stakes 
£107,000;  probably  the  highest  average  per  head  of 
population  in  any  part  of  the  world.  The  popular- 
ity of  the  sport  has  resulted  in  the  breeding  of  a  very 
fine  stamp  of  horse;  while  the  race-meetings  them- 
selves are  the  occasion  of  the  most  important  social 
gatherings  in  the  life  of  the  colonists.  The  majority 
of  country-bred  New  Zealanders  are  good  horsemen, 
as  some  of  them  have  recently  proved  in  the  South 
African  War ;  polo  is  much  played,  especially  in  the 
North  Island;  and  in  some  of  the  provinces  there  is 
fair  hunting,  though  only  with  what  Mr.  Jorrocks 
calls  the  "  currant- jelly  hounds  " ;  for  foxes  have  not 
been  imported. 

The  Acclimatisation  Societies  have  been  the  means 
of  providing  excellent  sport  in  the  way  of  trout- 
fishing.  Trout  weighing  from  7  to  10  Ibs.  are  com- 
mon in  many  of  the  rivers,  while  the  New  Zealand 
"  record  for  the  rod  "  is  a  trout  weighing  25  Ibs. 
Grey  duck;  pukaki  (swamp  hens)  and  wood 


THE  ISLAND  RAGS.  431 

pigeons ;  deer,  wild  pigs  and  wild  cattle,  furnish  the 
shooting.  Cricket  does  not  attain  as  high  a  stand- 
ard of  excellence  here  as  in  Australia;  but  the  foot- 
ball on  the  other  hand  is  better.  Kowing  has  not 
yet  reached  the  position  it  ought  to  occupy  among 
the  Island  Race;  most  of  our  large  rivers  are  too 
rapid  and  our  harbours  too  boisterous  to  make  good 
regatta-courses.  Considering  the  character  of  our 
mountain  scenery,  too,  Alpine  climbing  has  not  yet 
attained  the  popularity  as  a  sport  that  might  be  ex- 
pected. The  honour  of  attaining  the  summit  of 
Aorangi  (Mt.  Cook,  12,349  feet)  fell  to  an  Ameri- 
can mountaineer  (Fitzgerald)  in  1894.  Yet  the 
pioneers  of  New  Zealand  Alpine  climbing  were 
native-born,  and  Messrs.  Guy  Mannering  and  Mar- 
maduke  Dixon  may  fairly  claim  the  honour  of  hav- 
ing practically  accomplished  the  first  ascent  of  the 
mountain;  for,  in  1890,  without  professional  guides 
or  adequate  appliances  and  experience,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  ice-cap  on  Aorangi,  which  is 
much  like  being  on  the  topmost  rung  of  a  ladder 
and  yet  not  on  the  projections  above  that  step. 

Democrats  in  their  local  politics,  the  New  Zea- 
landers  are  yet  Imperialist  to  a  man.  Party  dis- 
sensions are  sometimes  acute;  party  controversies 
are  often  bitter.  But  the  grounds  of  difference  are 
purely  local ;  on  all  questions  that  affect  the  position 
of  the  colony  as  a  unit  of  the  Empire  there  is  ever 
but  one  party.  It  was  the  great  national  consecration 
of  the  Queen's  Diamond  Jubilee  in  1897  that  first 
brought  home  to  the  hearts  of  the  native-born  the 
full  sense  of  their  national  heritage;  they  realised 
that  they  were  "  citizens  of  no  mean  city."  And  if 
that  event  reminded  them  of  their  privileges,  the 
Transvaal  War  has  taught  them  their  responsibili- 


432  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

ties.  The  Parliament  of  New  Zealand  was  the  first 
in  all  the  self-governing  colonies  to  offer  troops  for 
service  in  South  Africa.  The  response  of  the  New 
Zealanders  to  the  Empire's  call  to  arms  was  as  en- 
thusiastic as  it  was  unanimous.  Of  the  five  "  Con- 
tingents "  despatched  to  the  seat  of  war,  amounting 
altogether  to  more  than  a  thousand  men, — a  large 
quota  from  a  small  civilian  population, — two  were 
armed,  equipped  and  horsed  and  transported  to 
the  scene  of  hostilities  entirely  at  the  private  charge 
of  loyal  settlers.  The  rights  or  wrongs  of  the  Trans- 
vaal War  New  Zealanders  did  not  stay  to  question ; 
it  will  live  in  their  history  as  a  great  event  that 
taught  them,  even  to  their  own  surprise,  how  loyal 
they  are  to  the  Empire  of  which  they  form  a  part. 

For  federation  in  the  merely  political  sense,  they 
care  nothing.  Possibly  the  tendency  to  knit  the 
British  nation  into  groups,  Canada,  Australia,  South 
Africa,  may  draw  them,  in  course  of  time,  into  the 
new-born  Australian  Commonwealth.  More  prob- 
ably New  Zealand's  insular  position,  her  self-con- 
tained and  self-reliant  national  life,  will  keep  her 
fixed  in  her  present  intention  of  independent  devel- 
opment. Her  rich  natural  heritage  will  not  be 
lightly  bartered  for  a  share  in  the  Continental  Com- 
monwealth. Hers  is  too  strong  an  individuality  to 
be  absorbed  in  any  federation  short  of  the  Imperial. 


STATISTICAL  APPENDIX  * 

THE  PROGRESS  OF  NEW  ZEALAND  SINCE 
1875. 

1.  At  the  close  of  1875,  twenty  years  after  the 
establishment  of  Responsible  Government,  and  just 
10  months  before  the  Provincial  Governments  were 
established,  New  Zealand  had  a  population  of  375,900 
souls  exclusive  of  Maoris,  and  by  the  beginning  of 
1900  it  had  more  than  doubled  itself.     During  the 
interval  the  growth  was  as  follows : 

1880 484,900 

1885 575,200 

1890 625.500 

1895 698,700 

1900 756,500 

The  Maoris  numbered  40,000  in  April,  1896,  the 
date  of  the  last  census,  having  decreased  from 
45,000,  in  1874. 

2.  The  birth  rate  during  1875  to  1880  was  41.32 
per  1000  of  the  population,  but  unfortunately  this 
large  rate  has  not  been  maintained,  for  in  1896-99 
it  had  dropped  to  25.78,  as  will  be  seen  below: 

1876-80 ,.  41.32  per  thousand 

1881-85 36.50        " 

1886-90 31.22        " 

1891-95 27.66        " 

1896-99 25.78        " 

*  Information  for  the  Appendix  was  kindly  furnished  by 
Mr.  T.  A.  Coghlan,  Government  Statistician.  New  South 
Wales. 

2c 


434  APPENDIX. 

There  is  a  very  considerable  difference  between  the 
rates  of  the  first  and  last  periods,  but  this  decline  in 
the  birth  rate  is  not  confined  to  New  Zealand,  it  is 
common  in  all  the  Australian  colonies,  and  is  the 
weakest  link  in  their  progress.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  death  rates  have  decreased  from  11.83  per  thou- 
sand in  1876-80  to  9.59  per  thousand  in  1896-99. 
The  decline,  perhaps,  is  not  very  great,  but  owing  to 
the  salubrity  of  its  climate  !N"ew  Zealand  has  always 
had  the  lowest  death  rate  of  any  community  within 
the  British  dominions,  or  indeed  in  the  world,  and 
its  rate  twenty-five  years  ago  was  lower  than  any 
now  prevailing  in  the  other  Australasian  colonies. 

3.  Education,  which  in  all  but  the  High  Schools 
is  free  and  in  all  Government  schools  is  secular, 
has  made  very  rapid  strides.     In  1875  there  were 
781    schools    (primary    and   private)    with    52,878 
scholars  on  the  roll.     These  figures  mean  that  there 
•was  1  school  to  every  481  of  the  people  and  that 
there  were  14  scholars  to  every  100  persons.     The 
proportion  of  schools  has  increased  to  1  to  every  381 
persons,  and  the  number  of  scholars  to  every  100 
persons  has  risen  to  20.     The  beneficent  results  of 
education  may  also  be  seen  from  the  Census  returns 
and  in  the  marriage  registers.     At  the  Census  of 
1878,  72  per  cent  of  the  male  and  66  per  cent  of 
the  female  population  were  able  to  read  and  write, 
while  in  1896  the  proportions  were  81  per  cent  and 
80  per  cent  respectively.     In  1876  the  number  who 
signed  the  marriage  registers  with  marks  was  66  in 
every  1000  married,  in  1886  it  was  24,  while  in 
1899  it  had  dropped  to  5  only. 

4.  Side  by  side  with  the  spread  of  education  there 
has  been  a  diminution  in  crime  and  an  increase  in 
the  orderliness  of  the  people,  for,  while  in  1875  con- 


STATISTICS. 


435 


victions  in  superior  courts  were  66  per  100,000  of 
the  population  and  in  Magistrates'  courts  423  per 
100,000,  in  1898  there  were  only  47  and  222 
respectively. 

5.  Owing  to  the  generally  rugged  character  of 
the  country,  and  the  natural  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come by  tunnelling,  railways  have  been  constructed 
at  great  cost,  while  the  cost  of  working  is  also  very 
great,  nevertheless,  they  yield  a  revenue  which  covers 
a  large  portion  of  the  interest  on  their  cost  after  pay- 
ing working  expenses,  and  their  progress  has  been 
very  steady.  In  1881  the  lines  open  for  traffic 
totalled  1319  miles  and  the  net  earnings  were 
£368,927,  equal  to  £280  per  mile,  while  in  1899  the 
mileage  under  traffic  was  2,090  and  the  net  earnings 
£539,927,  representing  £263  a  mile.  The  following 
statement  shows  the  development  of  the  railways 
since  1880: 


Population 
Period.       per  mile  of      Capital  Cost. 

Net  Earnings. 

Train  Miles 
Run  per 

line  open. 

Inhabitant. 

1881-82. 

280 

£  9,443,000 

£368,927 

5.0 

1886-87. 

341 

13.017,567 

299,696 

5.1 

1891-92. 

339 

14,656,691 

408,915 

4.7 

1896-97. 

354 

15,577,392 

497,104 

4.8 

1898-99. 

356 

16,404,076 

539,927 

5.3 

There  are  also  167  miles  of  private  lines  open. 

6.  The  progress  in  postal  and  telegraphic  facili- 
ties, and  in  the  use  made  of  them  by  the  public, 
have  also  been  very  marked.  In  1876  there  were 
about  850  post  offices  open,  of  which  142  were  tele- 
graph stations,  which  in  1899  had  increased  to  1561 
post  offices  and  878  telegraph  stations,  so  that  New 
Zealand  now  stands  first  amongst  the  countries  of 
the  world  as  regards  the  proportion  of  population  to 


436  APPENDIX. 

each  post  office,  the  figures  being  1  post  office  for 
every  510  inhabitants.  In  1876  the  number  of  let- 
ters carried  was  5,885,400,  of  newspapers  3,981,400, 
and  the  number  of  messages  forwarded  by  telegraph 
was  1,100,600;  these  by  1899  had  increased  to 
35,654,900  letters,  15,095,500  newspapers  and 
2,960,700  telegrams,  while  in  the  same  year  (1899) 
16,822,700  parcels,  books  and  packets  were  dealt 
with.  The  figures,  stated  per  1000  of  the  popula- 
tion, are  as  follows: 

Books 

Year.  Letters.       Newspapers.  and  Telegrams. 

Parcels. 

1876 15,189  10,295  ....  2,841 

1881 25,925  12,425               2,919 

1886 32,702  12,299  ....  3,153 

1891 37,785  14,683  11,381  3,124 

1896 '...  43,093  18,709  19,583  3,567 

1898 47,541  20,128  22,431  3,948 


There  has  been  an  enormous  increase  in  the  dealings 
in  money  orders,  for  while  in  1876  the  number  issued 
was  80,255,  of  a  value  of  £310,268,  in  1898,  749,819 
money  orders  and  postal  notes  were  issued,  valued  at 
£1,169,199. 

7.  The  trade  of  New  Zealand  required  in  1876 
the  services  of  878  vessels,  the  number  in  1899  being 
609.  At  first  sight  there  seems  as  if  there  had  been 
no  development  of  trade,  but  the  tonnage  figures 
show  that  it  now  requires  twice  the  capacity  it  did 
in  1876,  for  in  that  year  the  ships  entering  the  ports 
of  the  colony  had  a  total  tonnage  of  393,180,  or 
448  tons  per  vessel;  in  1899,  the  figures  were  811,- 
183  tons,  or  1332  per  vessel.  A  statement  of  the 
tonnage  of  shipping  inwards  at  the  beginning  of  each 
five  years  shows  continued  progress : 


STATISTICS.  437 

Year.  Tons. 

1876 393,180 

1881 420,134 

1886 502,572 

1891 618,515 

1896 614,097 

1899 811,183 

The  above  figures  only  represent  the  foreign  trade, 
there  is  besides  the  coastal  trade,  the  vessels  em- 
ployed on  which,  in  1876,  had  a  total  tonnage  of 
1,905,317,  which,  in  1899,  had  increased  to  6,642,907 
tons. 

8.  The  value  of  goods  imported  into  New  Zealand 
in  1876  was  £6,905,171  and  of  goods  exported  from 
the  colony  £5,673,465,  while  the  values  of  imports 
and  exports  in  1899  were  £8,739,633  and 
£11,938,335  respectively.  Practically  all  the  im- 
ports are  for  home  consumption  and  all  the  exports 
are  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  the  colony;  very 
little  cargo  in  transit  passes  through  New  Zealand. 
The  present  values  of  imports  is  £11  13s.  and  of  ex- 
ports £15  18s.  4d.  There  were  years  in  the  early 
eighties  when  these  values  were  exceeded,  but  if  the 
fall  in  the  prices  of  the  staple  productions  of  the 
colony  be  taken  into  account,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  quantities  of  goods  imported  and  exported  are 
both  now  larger  than  at  any  previous  time.  The 
value  and  progress  of  the  trade  is  set  out  in  the 
statement  below: 

ANNUAL  VALUE  OP  IMPORTS.  ANNUAL  VALUE  or  EXPORTS. 

Period.         Total.                  Per  Head.  Total.                 Per  Head. 

£                   £    s    d  £                   £    s    d 

1876-80.     7,434.170            17    8    3  6,022.491            14    2    2 


1881-85. 
1886-90. 
1891-95. 
1896-99. 


7.836.832  14  16  6  6,745,296  12  15  2 

6,303,163  10  9  3  8,091,974  13  8  6 

6,709.314  10  3  0  9.173.577  13  17  6 

8,040,694  11  0  9  10,448,597  14  6  10 


438  APPENDIX. 

The  principal  articles  of  domestic  produce  with  their 
quantities  and  values  exported  in  1899  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Wool 147,169,497  Ibs.  £4,324,627 

Butter  and  cheese...  205,526  cwt.  713,617 

Frozen  Meat 1,865,827  cwt.  2,088,856 

Gold 387,570  oz.  1,513,180 

Kauri  Gum 11,116  tons.  607,919 

9.  One  of  the  most  satisfactory  features  in  the 
progress  of  New  Zealand  is  the  way  the  people  have 
settled  on  the  land,  and  not  crowded  into  the  cities. 
The  four  chief  cities  of  New  Zealand  together  con- 
tain less  than  30  per  cent  of  the  total  population, 
which  is  in  strong  contrast  with  the  case  of  Mel- 
bourne and  Adelaide,  which  each  contain  40  per  cent 
of  their  colony's  population.     In  1899  there  were 
nearly  16,000  Crown  tenants  holding  about  15  mil- 
lion acres,  and  there  were  nearly  63,000  occupied 
and  cultivated  holdings  over  an  acre  in  extent,  while 
the  total  area  sold  or  otherwise  disposed  of  amounted 
to  22,585,000  acres,  about  one-third  of  the  area  of 
the    colony.     The    distinguishing    features    of    the 
present  land  system  involve  the  principle  of  state 
ownership  of  the  soil  with  a  perpetual  tenancy  in  the 
occupier. 

10.  It  is  generally  admitted  that  there  is  no  part 
of  the  British  dominions  where  agriculture  in  its 
widest  sense  can  be  carried  on  with  so  much  cer- 
tainty and  with  such  good  results  as  in  New  Zealand, 
and  full  advantage  has  been  taken  of  this  fertility 
of  soil.     In  1876  there  were  2,940,700  acres  under 
cultivation,  mostly  of  sown  grasses,  which  grow  and 
thrive  as  in  no  other  place,  and  in  1899  the  area  had 
increased  to  11,984,600  acres.     The  following  state- 
ment shows  the  progress  during  each  five  years: 


STATISTICS.  439 

Area  under  culti- 
vation—Acres. 

1876  ......................................     2,940,700 

1881  ......................................     5,189,100 

1886  ......................................     6,845,200 

1891  ............................  ..........     8,893,200 

1896  .....................................  11,550,100 

1899  ....................................  11,984,600 

All  the  cereals  flourish  well,  but  more  especially 
Indian  corn,  which  yields  from  50  to  80  bushels  per 
acre,  the  other  principal  grains  produced  being 
wheat,  oats  and  barley.  In  1876  the  extent  of  land 
under  wheat  was  141,600  acres,  and  oats  150,700 
acres,  while,  in  1899,  the  areas  were  399,000  and 
417,300  respectively. 

11.  The  pastoral  industry  of  the  colony  has  pro- 
gressed largely  in  every  direction.  The  latest  re- 
turns for  sheep  show  that  the  number  was  19,349,500, 
which  is  only  exceeded  by  New  South  Wales.  Since 
1882,  the  inaugural  year  of  the  frozen  meat  trade, 
sheep-farming  has  undergone  a  radical  change  in 
New  Zealand  and  sheep  are  now  raised  for  mutton 
and  wool.  The  number  of  horses  at  the  present  time 
is  262,400  and  of  swine  249,800.  Cattle,  which 
number  1,210,440,  show  a  continual  increase  from 
the  earliest  times,  and  in  New  Zealand  are  free  from 
any  of  the  diseases  so  disastrous  to  horned  stock  in 
other  countries.  The  growth  of  the  various  kinds 
of  live  stock  is  seen,  below  : 


Sheep.  Horses.  Cattle.  Swine. 

Number.  Number.  Number.  Number. 

1876....  13,069,300  137,800  578,400  207,800 

1886....  16,564,600  187,400  853,400  277,900 

1896  ...  18,128,200  249,800  1,047,900  209,900 

1899....  19,349,500       262,400  1,210,440  249,800 

12.  The  natural  mineral  resources  of  New  Zea- 


440  APPENDIX. 

land  are  very  great  and  have  exercised  a  most  im- 
portant influence  on  the  development  and  progress 
of  the  colony.  The  total  value  of  minerals  won  up 
to  the  end  of  1898  was  £61,646,000,  to  which  gold 
contributed  £54,453,000,  silver  £236,000,  and  coal 
£6,681,000.  Gold  has  always  been  the  great  mining 
industry  of  New  Zealand,  and  bids  fair  to  continue 
so,  for  the  difficulty  for  many  years  experienced  in 
working  the  beds  of  the  larger  rivers  has  at  last  been 
overcome  by  the  use  of  dredging  machinery,  while 
the  vast  extent  of  the  coal  measures  in  New  Zealand 
will  make  coal-mining  one  of  the  largest  industries 
in  the  colony,  the  output  having  risen  from  162,200 
tons  in  1878  to  907,000  tons  in  1898.  The  produc- 
tion of  the  three  principal  minerals  in  1898  was: 

Gold..  .280,17502.  £1,080,691 

Silver 293,851  oz.  33,107 

Coal 907,033  tons.  453,517 

13.  New  Zealand,  although  it  has  a  rather  com- 
plete system  of  local  government,  the  colony  being 
divided  for  this  purpose  into  counties  and  boroughs, 
still  has  many  charges  for  services,  such  as  railways, 
etc.,  its  public  finances,  and  large  debts  have  been 
incurred  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  them  out.  For 
the  year  ended  31st  March,  1899,  the  receipts  from 
all  sources  were  £5,258,228,  thus  derived : 

Railways £1 ,465,507 

Posts  and  Telegraphs 445,770 

Customs  and  Beer  Duties 2,041,231 

Direct  Taxation 747,162 

Territorial  Revenue 273,799 

Other  Revenue 284,759 


Total £5,258,228 


STATISTICS.  441 

The  total  expenditure  was  £5,283,511,  distributed 
as  follows: 


Interest  and  Sinking  Fund  Charges £1,767,468 

Railways 968,917 

Postal  and  Telegraph  Services 388,546 

Public  Instruction 475,218 

Paid  to  Public  Works  Fund 425,000 

Other  Services 1,258,362 


Total £5,283,511 


This  shows  an  excess  of  £25,283  in  excess  of  receipts, 
but  as  there  was  £521,144  in  hand  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  the  credit  balance  on  31st  March,  1899, 
was  £495,861.  The  gross  public  debt  of  the  colony 
at  the  end  of  March,  1899,  was  X46,938,006,  from 
which,  deducting  an  accrued  sinking  fund  of 
£857,279,  leaves  the  net  indebtedness  at  £46,080,- 
727,  equal  to  £61  14s.  4d.  per  head  of  population. 
This  rate  certainly  is  high,  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  burden  of  a  public  debt  depends 
greatly  on  the  increase  in  which  it  is  expended  on 
reproductive  works.  Owing  to  the  generally  moun- 
tainous and  broken  nature  of  the  country,  and  the 
natural  difficulties  belonging  to  the  sites  of  many 
of  the  towns,  a  large  outlay  on  roads  and  public 
works  has  been  necessary.  Of  the  total  amount  out- 
standing £16,219,000  has  been  spent  on  truly  repro- 
ductive works,  viz.,  railways  £15,390,000,  telegraphs 
£829,000,  while  besides  there  has  been  expenditure 
on  several  other  objects  which  may  be  considered  to 
represent  interest-bearing  investments,  such  as  the 
purchase  of  lands  to  promote  settlement.  The  in- 
debtedness under  these  heads  is  as  follows :  •*  ^ 


442  APPENDIX. 

Land  Purchases £3,542,000 

Advances  to  Settlers 2,000,000 

Loans  to  Local  Bodies 1,240,000 

Bank  of  New  Zealand  Preferred  Shares. .        500,000 
New  Zealand  Consols  Deposits 386,000 

Total £7,668 ,000 

These  two  together  give  a  total  of  £23,887,000  ex- 
pended on  reproductive  works,  and  amount  to  a  lit- 
tle over  50  per  cent  of  the  total  debt.  The  re- 
mainder, £23,051,006,  represents  the  amount  ex- 
pended on  unproductive  works  and  services,  and  the 
difference  between  the  face  value  of  the  stock  issued 
and  the  actual  amount  of  the  loan  received.  The 
sum  of  £46,938,006  representing  an  annual  interest 
charge  of  £1,786,272  and  a  cost  of  £62  17s.  3d.  per 
head  is  no  doubt  large,  but  it  is  more  than  counter- 
balanced by  the  assets  of  the  colony  in  the  shape 
of  the  Crown  lands  and  the  reproductive  services, 
railways,  posts  and  telegraphs,  the  revenue  from 
which  in  1899  yielded  £2,176,076. 

14.  At  the  beginning  of  1876  the  people  of  the 
colony  had  on  deposit  in  the  various  banks  a  sum  of 
£6,864,500,  or  £18  per  inhabitant;  this  sum  rapidly 
and  steadily  increased  until  at  the  beginning  of  1899 
it  had  nearly  trebled  and  was  £19,890,000,  or  £27 
per  inhabitant.  The  following  statement  shows  the 
amount  on  deposit  at  the  beginning  of  the  various 
periods : 

Year.  Amount.  Per  Inhabitant. 

£  £     *.   d. 

1876 6,864,531  18    5    0 

1886 12,225,856  21    5    0 

1896 18,165,111  26    0    0 

1899 19,890,116  2615    0 

There  are  in  New  Zealand  only  seven  savings  banks 


STATISTICS.  443 

which  are  not  connected  with  the  Post  Office.  The 
total  amount  to  the  credit  of  depositors  in  them  in 

1898  was  £789,116.     In  all  the  savings  banks  the 
balance  to  the  credit  of  depositors  at  the  start  of 

1899  was  £5,744,000,  or  nearly  £8  per  inhabitant, 
and  the  number  of  depositors  was  199,464,  or  1  in 
less  than  every  four  persons.     The  growth  of  the 
savings  bank  has  been  very  fast  as  will  be  seen  below : 

v     _  Number  of  Amount  on         Average  per 

Depositors.  Deposit.  Inhabitant. 

£  £    8.  d, 

1876 30,310  897,326  279 

1886 85,769  2.142,560  3  14    6 

1896 163,513  4,620,696  6  12    3 

1899 199,464  5,746,887  7  14    7 

In  addition  there  were,  at  the  end  of  1897,  68  regis- 
tered building  societies,  whose  assets  were  valued  at 
£937,587 ;  and  there  were  388  Friendly  societies, 
with  a  total  membership  of  32,670,  with  assets 
valued  at  £637,011,  equivalent  to  £19  10s.  per 
member. 

15.  In  1894  an  important  financial  Act,  termed 
the  New  Zealand  Consols  Act,  was  passed  with  the 
intention  of  providing  further  means  of  investment 
for  the  savings  of  people  resident  in  the  colony,  and 
steady  progress  is  being  made  in  this  class  of  de- 
posits, there  being  invested  on  31st  March,  1899,  a 
eum  of  £385,925. 

In  truth  it  may  be  said  that,  as  the  home  of  ad- 
vanced legislation,  New  Zealand  stands  easily  first. 
It  was  the  first  colony  to  confer  the  franchise  upon 
females,  and  the  first  to  inaugurate  the  system  of 
advances  to  settlers,  which  has  afforded  so  much  re- 
lief to  a  numerous  class  of  colonists  who  were  strug- 
gling under  the  burden  of  high  rates  of  interest  and 
heavy  legal  expenses  of  mortgages. 


444  APPENDIX. 

In  1869  the  New  Zealand  Government  Life  In- 
surance Department  was  established  for  the  purpose 
of  insuring  and  granting  annuities  on  the  lives  of 
such  people  as  desired  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
guarantee  of  the  colony  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
security  provided  by  the  funds  of  a  life  office.  At 
the  end  of  the  first  year  463  policies  had  been  taken 
out,  representing  £206,361 ;  by  the  end  of  1898  the 
number  of  policies  had  increased  to  37,848,  and  the 
sum  assured  to  £9,304,722,  while  £819,485  had  been 
distributed  as  bonus  additions,  and  the  department's 
assets  were  valued  at  the  end  of  1898  at  £2,924,364. 

And  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  ISTew  Zealand  has 
attempted  the  solution  of  a  problem  still  unsolved  in 
other  countries,  that  is,  a  scheme  for  the  payment  of 
old  age  pension.  In  1898,  a  bill  was  passed  provid- 
ing for  the  payment  of  an  old  age  pension  to  every 
person  of  the  full  age  of  sixty-five  years  or  upwards 
while  in  the  colony,  and  without  contribution  by  the 
beneficiaries.  The  full  pension  is  £18  a  year,  and 
the  total  number  granted  up  to  31st  March,  1899, 
was  7,487,  representing  a  yearly  payment  of  £128,- 
082,  the  average  pension  granted  being  about  £17  2s. 


PRINCIPAL    EVENTS    IN    NEW 
ZEALAND  HISTORY. 

CHRONOLOGICALLY  ARRANGED. 

Discovery  by  Abel  Jansen  Tasman. 

Captain  Cook  landed  at  Poverty  Bay,  Oct.  8. 

Lieutenant-Governor  King  visited  Doubtless  Bay. 

The  Boyd  massacre. 

Rev.  S.  Marsden  arrived  at  Bay  of  Islands. 

Hongi  visited  England. 

Capture  of    Mauinaina  Pa   (Auckland    Isthmus)   by 

Hongi. 
Fall  of  Te  Totara  Pa,  Thames. 

1822.  Fall  of  Matakitaki  Pa,  Waitato. 

1823,  1828.    Acts  passed  for  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of 

the  Courts  of  Justice  in  New  South  Wales  to  British 
subjects  in  New  Zealand. 

1825.    First  attempt  at  Colonisation  (Captain  Herd) . 
Ngati-Whatua  defeated  at  Koipara  by  Hongi. 

1827.  Wesleyan  mission  at  Whangaroa  burned  by  Hongi's 

followers. 

1828.  Captain  Dumont  d'Urville  visited  Auckland  Harbour. 

1830.  Seizure  of  Tama-i-hara-nui  by  Rauparaha  at  Akaroa. 
Destruction  of  Kaiapoi  Pa  by  Rauparaha. 

1831.  Thirteen  chiefs  applied  for  the  protection  of  King 

William  the  Fourth. 
Capture  of  Pukerangiora  Pa  by  Waikato. 

1832.  Waikato    repulsed    in  an    attack    on    Ngamotu    Pa, 

Taranaki. 

1833.  Mr.  James  Busby  appointed  British  Resident. 


446  APPENDIX. 

1834.  H.    M.    S.    Alligator   destroyed   Waimate    Pa,    near 

Opunake. 

1835.  "The    United   Tribes  of   New   Zealand"    published 

declaration    of    independence    of    whole    of  New 
Zealand. 

Portion    of   Ngatiawa   tribe    migrated    to    Chatham 
Islands. 

1836.  Fighting  between  the  Waikato  and  Te  Arawa. 

1838.     French  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  Pompallier  arrived  at 

Eokianga. 
"1839.    May  12.    New  Zealand  Company's  first  expedition  left 

England. 
June.    Letters  Patent  authorising  Governor  of  New 

South  Wales  to  include  within  the  limits  of  the 

colony  any  territory  acquired  by  Crown  in  New 

Zealand. 
Sept.    New  Zealand  Company's  first  emigrants  left 

England. 
Sept.     Colonel  Wakefield  arrived  in  New  Zealand. 

1840.  Jan.    First  steamer  arrived  in  New  Zealand. 

First  emigrants  landed  at  Port  Nicholson. 
Jan.  29.     Captain  Hobson  arrived  at  Bay  of  Islands. 
—Feb.  5.    Treaty  of  Waitangi  signed. 
May  21.    Proclamation     of     sovereignty    over     New 

Zealand. 

Aug.  11.    British  nag  hoisted  at  Akaroa. 
Sept.  18.    Auckland  chosen  as  capital. 

Wanganui    settled    under    the    name    of 
"Petre." 

1841.  Feb.  12.     Charter  of  incorporation  issued  to  New  Zea- 

land Company. 

March  31.    New  Plymouth  settlers  arrived. 
--  -*w»*'— •"•May  3.    New  Zealand  proclaimed  independent  of  New 

South  Wales. 
Oct.    Nelson  selected  as  site  for  settlement. 

1842.  Feb.  1.    Nelson  founded. 

May  29.     Bishop  Selwyn  arrived. 
Sept.  10.     Governor  Hobson  died.     Lieutenant  Short- 
land,  Colonial  Secretary,  became  Acting  -Governor. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS.  447 

1843.  June.    Wairau  massacre. 

Dec.  1.    Governor  Fitzroy  arrived. 

1844.  July  8.    Flagstaff  at  Kororareka  cut  down  by  Heke. 

1845.  March  10.    Kororareka  attacked  and  destroyed. 
Oct.  1.    Despatch  received  recalling  Fitzroy. 

14.     Arrival  of  Captain  Grey. 

1846.  Jan.  11.    Fall  of  Ruapekapeka  and  end  of  Heke's  war. 
March.    Native  outbreak  in  the  Hutt  valley. 

May.    Attack  on  military  outpost,  Hutt  valley. 

July  23.    Capture  of  Rauparaka  at  Porirua. 

Aug.  28.  New  Zealand  Government  Act  passed ; 
Charter  issued  dividing  Colony  into  two  parts  and 
granting  representative  government. 

1847.  Fighting  at  Wanganui. 

1848.  Jan.  8.    Major-General  Pitt  appointed  by  Grey  Lieu- 

tenant-Governor  of  Province  of  New  Ulster. 

Jan.  28.  Eyre  began  his  duties  at  Wellington  as  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor  of  New  Munster. 

March  7.  That  portion  of  New  Zealand  Government 
Act  suspended  which  had  conferred  representative 
institutions. 

March.  Otago  founded  (under  auspices  of  New  Zea- 
land Company)  by  Scotch  settlers  belonging  to  the 
Free  Church. 

Oct.    Earthquake  at  Wellington. 

1850.     July.     New    Zealand     Company's    Charter    surren- 
dered. 
\  Dec.    Canterbury  founded  by  Canterbury  Association. 

1852.  Gold  discovered  at  Coromandel. 

June  30.  Constitution  Act  passed  by  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment. 

1853.  June.     Constitution  Act  proclaimed. 

Dec.  31.    Departure  of  Sir  George  Grey. 

1854.  Jan.  3.     Lieutenant-Colonel  Wynyard  became  Acting 

Governor. 

-May  27.  Opening  of  first  session  of  General  Assembly 
at  Auckland. 

1855.  Sept.  6.    Governor  Gore  Browne  arrived. 


448  APPENDIX. 

Nov.  12.    First  members  elected  to  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives under  Responsible  Government. 

Aug.  8.    General  Assembly  opened. 

1856.    May?.    First  Ministry  appointed  under  leadership  of 
Mr.  Sewell. 

May  14.    Defeat  of  Sewell  Ministry. 

May  20.    Ministry  formed  under  Mr.  W.  Fox. 

May  28.    Fox  Ministry  defeated. 

June  2.    Stafford  Ministry  formed. 
"1857.    Payable  gold  discovered  at  Colling  wood,  Nelson. 

1858.  Nov.  1.    Province  of  Hawke's  Bay  established. 

1859.  March.    Teira  offered  land  at  Waitara  for  sale  to  Gov- 

ernment.   Sale  opposed  by  Wiremu  Kingi. 
Nov.    Province  of  Marlborough  established. 

1860.  March.    Hostilities  against  Wiremu  Kingi  began. 
March  18.     Maori  Pa  at  Waitara  captured. 
March  28.     Engagement  at  Waireka. 

June  27.    Engagement  at  Puketakauere. 
Nov.  6.    Waikatos  defeated  at  Mahoetahi. 
Dec.  31.     Capture  of  Matarikoriko  Pa. 

1861.  Jan.  23.     Attack  by  natives  on  redoubt  at  Huirangi 

repulsed. 
May  21.    Truce  agreed  to. 

lay.    Gold  discovered  at  Gabriel's  Gully,  Otago. 
July  5.    The  Stafford  Ministry  defeated. 
July  12.    Mr.  Fox  again  Prime  Minister. 
July  29.     Bank  of  New  Zealand  incorporated. 

spt.  26.    Sir  George  Grey  arrived  from  Cape  Colony. 

1862.  ^July  28.    Fox  Ministry  defeated  on  motion  to  place 

conduct  of  Native  affairs  under  control  of  Responsi- 
ble Ministers. 
Aug.  6.    Mr.  Alfred  Domett's  Ministry. 

1863.  ^^feb.  26.    Imperial  Government  relinquished    control 

over  administration  of  Native  affairs. 
May  4.    Maoris  attacked  military  escort  near  Tatarai- 

maka. 

July  17.    Waikato  War  opened. 
Oct.  27.    Resignation  of  Domett  Ministry. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS.  449 

Oct.  30.     Ministry  formed    under  leadership  of    Mr 

Whitaker. 

lov.    General   Assembly  accepted    responsibility  in 
Native  affairs. 

Nov.  20.     Defeat  of  Maoris  at  Rangiriri. 

Dec.  1.    First  New  Zealand  railway  opened  at  Christ- 
church. 

Dec.  3.    New  Zealand  Settlement  Act  passed,  confer- 
ring power  on  Governor  to  confiscate  land  of  rebels. 

Dec.  8.    Occupation  of  Ngaruawahia. 

1864.  Feb.  22.     Natives  defeated  at  Rangiaohia. 
April  2.     Capture  of  Orakau  Pa. 

April  29.     British    repulsed    in    attack    on    Gate  Pa, 

Tauranga. 
May  13.    Battle  between  friendly  natives  and  rebel 

Hau-Haus  at  Moutua,  island  in  Wanganua  River. 
Discovery  of  gold  on  west  coast  of  Middle  Island. 
Oct.  3.    Wellington  selected  as  seat  of  government. 
Nov.  24.     Mr.  F.  A.  Weld  formed  Ministry,  consequent 

on  resignation  of  Whitaker  government. 

1865.  March  6.    Mr.  Volckner,  Church  of  England  mission- 

ary, murdered  by  Hau-Haus  at  Obotiki. 

June  8.    Submission  of  Wiremu  Tamihana  (William 
Thompson) . 

Sept.  2.     Peace  proclaimed  (end  of  Oakura  war). 

Oct.  16.    On  resignation  of  Weld  Ministry,  Mr.  E.  W. 
Stafford  formed  a  Ministry. 

Dec.  25.    Rebels  defeated  at  Wairoa. 

18G6.  Jan.  4.  Major-General  Chute  defeated  natives  at  Oko- 
tuku  Pa.  He  afterwards  captured  Putahi  and 
Otapawa  Pas,  and  then  marched  through  the  forest 
to  New  Plymouth. 

March  29.    Te  Heu  Heu  submitted. 

Opening  of  Panama  steam  mail  service. 

Cable  laid  across  Cook's  Strait. 

Oct.  12.    Rebels  defeated  at  Omaranui. 

1867.  Oct.  10.  Act  passed  dividing  Colony  into  Maori  elec- 
torates ;  one  Maori  member  from  each  electorate  in 
House  of  Representatives. 

2D 


450  APPENDIX. 

1868.  Jan.    County  of  Westland  established. 

Feb.  6.    Governor  Sir  George  F.  Bowen  arrived. 
July  4.    Te  Kooti  seized  the  schooner  Rifleman  and 

escaped  with  followers  from  Chatham  Islands. 
Aug.  8.     Lieutenant-Colonel  "Whitmore,  in  pursuit  of 

Chatham  Island  escapees,  fought  indecisive  action 

in  Ruake  Ture  Gorge. 

Nov.  7.    Colonial  forces  defeated  at  Moturoa. 
Nov.  10.    Thirty-two  Europeans  massacred  at  Poverty 

Bay  by  To  Kooti's  followers. 

1869.  Jan.  5.     Capture  of  Ngatapa  Pa,  Poverty  Bay,  and  dis- 

persal of  Te  Kooti's  followers  there. 
June  24.     Stafford  Ministry  defeated. 
-  JTune  28.     Mr.  W.  Fox  again  Premier. 

1870.  March  25.     Major  Kepa  (Kemp),  with  force  of  friendly 

natives,  defeated  Te  Kooti  at  Maraetahi. 
March  26.     Opening  of  San  Francisco  mail  service. 
June  28.    Mr.  Vogel,  Colonial  Treasurer,   formulated 

his  Public  Works  policy. 
Sept.  12.    Act  passed  for  establishing  New  Zealand 

University. 
Sept.  12.    Land  Transfer  Act  passed. 

1871.  March.    Railway  construction  commenced  under  Pub- 

lic Works  policy. 

1872.  Sept.    Defeat  of  Fox  Ministry. 

New  Ministry  under  Hon.  E.  W.  Stafford  defeated  in 
October,  and  Hon.  G.  M.  Waterhouse  became 
Premier. 

Oct.  11.  Two  Maori  Chiefs  appointed  to  Legislative 
Council. 

1873.  Jan.    New  Zealand  Shipping  Company  formed. 
March  3.     Hon.  W.  Fox  became  Premier,  vice  Hon.  G. 

M.  Waterhouse,  resigned. 

March  19.  Departure  of  Governor  Bowen,  Chief  Jus- 
tice Sir  C.  A.  Arney  acting  as  Administrator. 

April  8.  Hon.  J.  Vogel  became  Premier,  instead  of 
Hon.  W.  Fox. 

1874.  June  14.    Governor  Sir  J.  Fergusson  arrived. 

Dec.  3.    Arrival  of  Marquis  of  Norman  by  as  Governor, 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS.  451 

During  this  year  31,774  immigrants  introduced  into  the 
Colony. 

1875.  July  6.    Sir  J.  Vogel  being  in  England,  the  Ministry 

reconstituted,   under  leadership  of  the  Hon.  Dr. 

Pollen. 

During  this  year  18,334  immigrants  introduced. 
Oct.  12.    Abolition  of  Provinces  Act  passed. 

1876.  Feb.  15.    Sir  J.  Vogel  again  Premier, 

Feb.  18.    Telegraph  cable  between  New  Zealand  and 

New  South  Wales  completed. 
Sept.  1.    Sir  J.  Vogel  appointed  Agent-General. 
New  Ministry  formed  by  Major  Atkinson. 
Nov.  1.    "  Abolition  of  Provinces  Act,  1876,"  put  into 

force. 
Oct.  15.    Atkinson  Ministry  having  been  defeated,  Sir 

George  Grey  became  Minister. 
Nov.  29.    Education  Act  passed.    It  provided  for  free 

and  compulsory  education. 

1879.  March  27.    Sir  Hercules  G.  R.  Robinson  became  Gov- 

ernor, in  place  of  Marquis  of  Normanby,  who  left 
New  Zealand,  February  29. 

May  25.    Native  disturbance  at  Parihaka. 

Oct.  3.  Resignation  of  Sir  George  Grey's  Ministry. 
Succeeded  by  Ministry  with  Mr.  John  Hall  as  Pre- 
mier (October  8). 

Dec.  19.  Triennial  Parliament  Act ;  Act  for  Assessing 
Property  for  Taxation. 

1880.  Sept.  8.    Departure  of  Sir  Hercules  Robinson. 
Nov.  29.    Arrival  of  Governor  Sir  A.  H.  Gordon. 

1881.  Nov.  5.    Arrest  of  Te  Whiti. 

1882.  Feb.  15.    First  New  Zealand  shipment  of  frozen  meat 

from  Port  Chalmers. 

April  21.  Reconstruction  of  Hon.  John  Hall's  Minis- 
try, under  premiership  of  Hon.  F.  Whitaker. 

June  23.     Departure  of  Sir  A.  H.  Gordon. 

1883.  Jan.  20.     Arrival  of  Sir  W.  F.  D.  Jervis  as  Governor. 
Sept.  25.     On  resignation  of  Hon.  F.  Whitaker,  the 

Hon.  Major  H.  A.  Atkinson  became  Premier. 

1884.  Atkinson  Ministry  having  been  defeated  in  June,  Par- 


452  APPENDIX. 

liament  was  dissolved  and  a  general  election  held. 
Major  Atkinson  then  resigned,  and  Mr.  Robert  Stout 
formed  a  Ministry,  which  was  defeated  August  20. 
Major  Atkinson  again  in  power,  but  was  defeated 
next  day,  and  Mr.  Stout  formed  a  Ministry. 

1885.  Aug.  1.    Industrial  Exhibition  at  Wellington. 

1886.  June  10.    Volcanic  eruption  at  Tarawera. 

1887.  May  28.    Defeat  of  Sir  Robert  Stout's  Ministry. 
Oct.  8.    Major  Atkinson  again  Premier. 

Dec.  19.    Act  passed  reducing  number  of  members  of 

House  of  Representatives  to  74. 
Dec.  23.    Australian  Naval  Defence  Act  passed. 
1889.    Departure  of  Sir  W.  F.  D.  Jervis,  March  22,  and  arrival 

of  Earl  of  Onslow,  May  2. 
Sept.    Statute  prohibiting  electors  from  voting  for 

more  than  one  electorate. 

1891.  Jan.  24.    Resignation  of  Atkinson  Ministry  and  forma- 

tion of  new  Ministry  by  Hon.  John  Ballance. 
Aug.  19.    Employers'  Liability  Act  (1882)  Amendment 

Act  passed. 
Sept.  8.    Repeal  of  Property  Tax,  and  passing  of  Land 

and  Income  Assessment  Act. 
Sept.  21.    Act  passed  for  regulation  of  factories  and 

workrooms. 

1892.  Feb.  2.    Departure  of  Governor,  the  Earl  of  Onslow. 
June  7.    Governor  Glasgow  arrived. 

Oct.  1.    Contractors'  and  Workmen's  Lien  Act. 

Oct.  2.     Dairy  Industry  Act. 

Oct.  11.    Land  and  Income  Tax  Act. 

Land  Act. 

Land  for  Settlements  Act. 

1893.  April.    Death  of  Hon.  John  Ballance  and  formation  of 

Ministry  by  Hon.  R.  J.  Seddon. 
Sept.    Act  conferring  franchise  on  women  passed. 
Oct.    Workmen's  Wages  Act. 

1894.  Aug.    Conspiracy  Law  Amendment  Act. 

Aug.  Act  to  encourage  industrial  unions  and  associa- 
tions, and  to  facilitate  settlement  of  industrial  dis- 
putes by  arbitration. 


PRINCIPAL  EVENTS.  453 


Oct.    Advances  to  Settlers  Act. 

Shop  and  Shop  Assistants  Act. 
1895.    Sept.     Servants'  Registry  Office  Act. 

Family  Homes  Protection  Act. 
1897.     Earl  of  Ranfurly  became  Governor. 
198.    Death  of  Sir  George  Grey. 

Old  Age  Pensions  Act. 


INDEX. 


Accidents,  Compensation  for,  838. 

Adams,  Arthur  H.,  397. 

Advances  to  Settlers  Act,  364. 

Agrarian  Legislation,  214. 

Agricultural  Statistics,  438-9. 

Akaroa,  180. 

Akaroa,  French  Atteinpts  to  Settle,  120. 

Alligator,  H.M.S.,  90 ;  destroys  Wai- 
inate  Pa,  92. 

Aotea,  North  Island,  7. 

Apathy  of  English  Government  to 
N.  Z.,  102. 

Appeal  of  Chiefs  to  William  IV.,  89. 

Appendix,  Statistical,  433. 

Arauxt,  the  Canoe,  2. 

Arbitration,  Compulsory,  343 ; 
Courts,  344. 

Architecture  in  N.  Z.,  383. 

Art,  in  the  Colony,  383  ;  of  Maoris, 
35. 

Atkinson-Whitaker-Hall  Combina- 
tion, 291. 

Atkinson,  Major,  288,  293. 

Attachment  Act,  Wages,  342 

Auckland,  founded,  118 ;  College, 
378. 

Augustine  of  N.  Z.,  59. 

Austral,  Mrs.  Wilson,  397. 

B. 

Ballance,  Hon.  John,  292,  809,  312, 
356 

Ballot  Bill,  The,  295. 

Bank  Deposits,  442-3. 

Baring,  Francis,  101. 

Barrett,  Dickey,  106  (see  also 
Nganiotu). 

Battle  of,  Gate  Pa,  246 ;  Kaiapoi 
Pa,  82  ;  Kaipara,  77  ;  Kopua,  79  ; 
Kororareka,  142 ;  Mahoetahi  Pa, 
227 ;  Moturoa  Pa,  260 ;  Moutua, 
250;  Ngatapa  Pa,  262;  Nga- 
niotu Pa,  8& ;  Orakau,  245 ; 
Omaranui  and  Opotiki,  259 ; 
Oheawai  Pa,  144 ;  Pukerang- 
iora  Pa,  83,  228 ;  Puketakauere 
Pa,  224 ;  Rangiriri  Pa,  242 ; 
Buapekapeka  Pa,  1 17  ;  Sentry 


Hill,  249 ;  Tauranga  Pa,  128 ; 
Te  Hanga  Pa,  240 ;  Totara  Pa, 
77  ;  Wereroa  Pa,  255  ;  Waitotara, 
253. 

Bay  of  Islands,  Mission,  62  j  Mas- 
sacre, 42. 

Betterment,  287. 

Biggs,  Major,  262. 

Birds  of  N.  Z.,  16. 

Birth  Rate,  of  N.  Z.,  433  ;  declining 
425. 

Blind  Bay  Settlement,  124. 

Boards  of  Conciliation,  344. 

Bowen,  Charles  Christopher,  374, 
395. 

Bowen,  Sir  George,  Governor,  200. 

Boyd,  Massacre  of,  60,  74, 

Bracken,  Thos.,  395 

Browne,  Governor,  The  Ultimatum 
of,  231. 

Bruce,  George,  55. 

Bryce,  Native  Minister,  800,  303. 

Buckley,  Sir  Patrick,  312. 

Burns,  Rev.  Thos.,  and  Otago,  164. 

Busby,  James,   British  Resident,  CO. 

Butler,  Samuel,  891. 

C. 

Cadman,  A.  J.,  312. 

Cameron,  General,  at  Taranaki,  240 ; 
Meri  Meri,  242 ;  Gate  Pa,  246  ; 
Te  Ranga  Pa,  246  ;  The  "Lama 
Seagull,"  253. 

Canterbury,  Plains,  99 ;  Pilgrims, 
175  ;  Association,  176  ;  Aims  and 
Objects  of  Association,  176 ;  A 
Separate  Province,  184  ;  Educa- 
tion, 185 ;  College,  378. 

Capital,  The,  Wellington,  857. 

Cargill,  Captain,  164. 

Carroll,  Jas.,  312. 

Charlotte  Jane,  The,  180. 

Cheviot  Estate,  861-363. 

Chinese  in  N.  Z.,  421. 

Christchurch  Founded,  185. 

Christ's  College,  185. 

Chute,  General,  258. 

Clean  Shirt  Ministry,  195. 

Climates  of  New  Zealand,  17. 

Coates,  Mr  Dandesou,  102. 


456 


INDEX. 


Colborne-Veel,  Mrs.  Mary,  397. 
Colenso,  Rev.,  W.  385. 
College,  Christchurch,  185  ;  Te  Aute, 
407 ;  Auckland,  Canterbury,  378  ; 

Otago,  Victoria,  378. 
Compensation,  for    Accidents  Act, 

338 ;  Act  of  England,  839. 
Conciliation,  343  ;  Boards  of,  344,  etc.; 

Failure  of,  353. 
Confiscation,  Policy  of  Government, 

252. 

Constitution  Association,  161. 
Constitution  Act,  passed,  189  ;  Pro- 
claimed, 191. 

Constitutional  changes,  295  et.  seq. 
Contingents  for  South  Africa,  432. 
Continuous  Ministry,  The,  291. 
Cook,    Captain,    First   Visit   at   Taur- 

anga,  38 ;   Maori  Account  of,  40 ; 

Subsequent  Voyages,  44 ;  Again, 

401. 

Cressy,  The,  180. 
Criminal  Statistics,  435. 
Crown  Land  Ordinance,  123. 
Cruise,  Major,  389. 

D. 

Dairying,  Co-operative,  870. 

Deans,  John  and  William,  162. 

Death  Rate,  423,  433. 

Debt,  Public,  441. 

De  Gonneville  in  New  Zealand,  36. 

Deiffenbach's  Travels,  385. 

Democracy,  New,  307 et.  seq.;  Social- 
istic Radicals,  308 ;  Graduated 
Land  and  Income  Tax,  311 ; 
Agrarian  Legislation  and  Labour 
Laws,  314;  Taxation,  315;  Wo- 
men's Franchise,  816;  Indiffer- 
ence to  Matters  Municipal,  320; 
Co-operative  Labour  on  Public 
Works,  322 ;  Old  Age  Pensions, 
325. 

Denominations,  Strength  of,  424. 

Department  of  Labour,  322. 

De  Surville  in  N.  Z.,  41. 

De  Thierry,  Baron,  92,  94. 

D'Urville,  Captain,  89. 

Dixon,  Marmaduke,  431. 

Domett,  Alfred,  393. 

Du  Fresne,  Murder  of,  42. 

Dummyism,  359. 

Dunedin  Founded,  169. 

E. 

Educational  Act,  Fourth  Standard, 
337. 

Education,  373  et  seq.;  Provincial 
Provision  for,  373  ;  Compulsory, 
374 ;  Attainments  of  the  Teacher, 
875 ;  Roman  Catholic  Schools, 
876 ;  Secondary  Schools,  376 ; 
University  of  N.  Z.,  377;  Techni- 
cal Schools,  379  ;  Statistics,  434. 


Employers'  Liability  Act,  339. 
Expenditure,  441. 
Exports  and  Imports,  437. 
Eyre,     Edward     John,     Governor    of 
South  Island,  161. 

F. 

Factories    and  Shops,  Regulations 

Act,  833;   Butter    and    Cheese, 

871. 

Fenton,  Mr.  F.  D.,  207. 
Fitzgerald,  James,    First    Pilgrim, 

185. 

Fitzgerald,  Prime  Minister,  194. 
Fitzroy,  Governor,  arrival  of,  135 ; 

Blind  Conciliation    Policy,  138  ; 

Penny  an  Acre  Proclamation,  139. 
Flour  and  Sugar  Policy,  204  et  seq. 
Fox  Ministry,  196. 
Franchise,  Women's,  816. 
French  Activity  at  Akaroa,  120. 
Froude  on  New  Zealand,  420. 
Frozen  Meat  Trade,  368. 

G. 

Gisborne,  W.,  «°90. 

Glacier,  Mt.  Tasman,  18. 

Glenelg,  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Colonies,  J01. 

Gold  Discoveries,  267,  270. 

Grey,  Sir  Geo.,  Governor,  146;  Early 
Career  of,  146 ;  Cancels  Penny 
an  Acre  Proclamation,  146 ; 
Subdues  Hone  Heke,  147 ;  Seizes 
Rauparaha,  148  ;  Hangs  "  Martin 
Lulher,"  150  ;  Plans  Scheme  of 
Government  for  Maoris,  236 ; 
Interview  with  Tamihana,  238; 
Military  Skill,  254 ;  Recall  of, 
259 ;  Member  for  Auckland,  288  ; 
Leader  of  Opposition,  292  ;  Pre- 
mier, 293. 

Grossmann,  Mrs.  Edith  Howitt,  392. 

Guard,  Captain  J.,  91. 

Gully,  John,  382. 

H. 

Haast,  Sir  Julius  von,  385. 

Haimoni  Hiroti,  250. 

Hall,  Sir  John,  292. 

Hatuma  Estate,  361. 

Hau-Haus,  247 ;  Prophets  of,  248 ; 
Fight  with  Wanganui,  250;  Char- 
acteristics of  Belief  of,  251  ; 
Murder  of  Volckner,  259  ;  Massacre 
at  Poverty  Bay,  262 ;  Ngatapa 
Pa,  263. 

Hawaiki  (see  also  Maori),  1. 

Hawke's  Bay,  265. 

Hepaniah,  249. 

Herd,  Captain,  Land  Purchase  of, 
96. 

Hill,  Alfred,  384. 


INDEX. 


457 


Hinetnoa,  Legend  of,  82. 

Hobson,  sent  out,  104 ;  »t  Koro- 
rarelca,  109;  Negotiates  Treaty 
of  Waitangi,  112;  Frustrates 
French  Settlement,  120;  Diffi- 
culties at  Waitara,  126 ;  Death 
of,  128. 

Hochstetter,  Dr.,  885. 

Hokianga,  River  Settlement,  96. 

Hokitika,  Gold  Fields,  269. 

Holidays,  335,  837. 

Holdings,  Size  of,  355,  358. 

Hone  Heke  at  Kororareka,  141 ;  Sub- 
dued, 147. 

Hongi-Hika,  61 ;  Maori  Napoleon,  76  ; 
Visits  England,  76  ;  Buys  Mus- 
kets, 77  ;  Victories  of,  77. 

Hongi-Hika's  Death.  78. 

Hours  of  Labour,  315. 

Hulme,  Colonel,  143. 

Hurumii  River,  283. 

Button,  Captain,  385. 


Imperial  Troops  withdrawn,  256. 

Imports  and  Exports,  437. 

Industrial    Unions,    344     et.    seq.; 

Districts,  845. 
Industry,   Dairy,   870;  Kauri  Gum, 

271  ;  Sheep,  366. 
Island  Race,  420. 

J. 

Jones,  John,  162. 
Juan  Fernandez,  38. 

K. 

Kauri  Gum  Industry,  271. 

Kawau,  Island  of,  288. 

Kendall,  First  Magistrate  in  N.  Z., 

87. 

Kerikeri,  64. 
Kingi,   Wiremu,  220 ;  Opposes  Sale 

of  Teira's  Land,  221, 300. 
King  Maker  (see  Wiremu  Tamihana) 
Kiore  Rat,  16. 
Kiwi  Bird,  17. 
Kororareka  destroyed,  142. 

L. 

Labour,  Bureau  of,  822;  Depart- 
ment of,  322 ;  Hours  of,  815 ; 
Journal  of,  322,  388;  Laws  of, 
314,  332  et.  seq. 

"  Lame  Seagull,"  The,  253. 

Land,  Compact  of  1856,  285;  Free 
Selection  of,  285 ;  Size  of  Hold- 
ings, 355-358 ;  for  Settlements 
Act,  S59 ;  Income  Tar  Assess- 
ment Act,  314 ;  Leasehold  iu 
Perpetuity,  357 ;  Question  Again, 
813,  etc. 


Laing,  The,  169. 

Lease  Holders  in  Perpetuity,  357. 

Legends,  Maori,  27  et.  seq. 

Legislative  Council,  First,  122. 

Liability  Act,  Employers,  339. 

Life  Assurance,  Government,  444. 

Lindis  Pass,  268. 

Literature  of   Maoris,  32 ;    of  New 

Zealand.  382  et.  seq. 
Lloyd,  Murder  of,  247. 
Loans  Act,  198. 
Local  Government  Act,  289. 
"  Long  White  Clond,"  The,  389. 

M. 

MacKenzie,  John,  309-812,  856. 

Mahoetahi  Captured,  227. 

Mammals  of  N.  Z.,  15. 

Mannering,  Guy,  431. 

Maori,  Appeal  of  chiefs  to  William 
IV.,  89 ;  Coming  of  to  N.  Z., 
1-3 ;  Origin  of,  5  ;  Typical  19  ; 
Character  of,  20 ;  Social  Classes 
of,  21  ;  Oratory,  Love  of,  23 ; 
Mythology  and  Legends,  27-8. 
Literature  and  Art,  82-35 ; 
Cannibalism,  40 ;  First  to  Visit 
England,  73  ;  Grievances  of,  211 : 
Land  Question,  213 ;  Happy-go- 
lucky-ism,  403 ;  Poetry  of,  404  ; 
Young  Maori  Party,  408. 

Marsden,  Rev.  Samuel,  59. 

Martin,  First  Chief  Justice  of  N.  Z., 
122. 

"  Martin  Luther,"  Hanging  of,  150. 

Massacre  Bay,  37. 

Massacre  at  Bay  of  Islands,  42 ;  at 
Poverty  Bay,  261. 

Massey,  Captain,  259. 

Matene,  249. 

Matutaera  King,  226. 

Maunsell,  Rev.  R.,  65. 

McDonnell,  Major,  259. 

McLean,  Sir  Donald,  Native  Secre- 
tary, 199  ;  Opposes  Fenton,  208  ; 
and  Hau  Haus,  264,  800. 

Minerals  of  N.  Z.,  440. 

Ministry,  The  Continuous,  291,  etc. 

Missionaries,  early,  59 ;  Hobbs,  C4 ; 
Hall,  61 ;  Kendall,  61 ;  Leigh,  64 ; 
Matthews,  66 ;  Maunsell,  65 ; 
Marsden,  Rev.  S.,  59  ;  Turner,  64  ; 
Williams,  Bishop,  64;  Williams, 
Archdeacon,  64 ;  Long  Journeys 
of,  71 ;  Oppose  Colonization,  88. 

Mission  Station,  First,  62;  at  Keri 
Keri,  64  ;  at  Wangaroa,  64. 

Mohanger  visits  England,  73. 

Moorehouse,  Mr.,  276. 

Moturoa,  260. 

Moutua,  Battle  of,  250. 

Music,  379-384. 

Mythology,  of  Maori,  38;  Polync- 
sian,  386. 


458 


INDEX, 


N. 

Nanto-Bonlelaise  Co.,  89,  120. 

Native  Districts  Regulation  Bill,  203; 
Magistrates,  206. 

Negligence,  Contributory,  339. 

New  Democracy  (see  Democracy). 

New  Edinburgh  (see  Otago), 

Newspapers,  337. 

New  Zealand  Company,  First  At- 
tempt at  Settlement,  96 ;  Op- 
posed by  Church  and  State,  102  ; 
Sailing  of  Tory,  103  ;  Land  Boom 
in  England,  105;  Pt.  Nicholson 
Purchase,  107:  First  Settlers  at 
Te  Aro,  116 ;  Buys  out  Nanto 
Bordelaise  Co.,  120 ;  Spain,  Com- 
missioner of  N.  Z.  Co's  Pur- 
chases, 133 ;  Lay  Association 
and  Otago,  166  ;  Last  Efforts  of 
Co.,  175;  Canterbury  Associa- 
tion, 176  ;  End  of  Company,  176. 

New  Zealand,  Land  of  Moas  and 
Greenstone, .  2  ;  Coming  of  Ma- 
oris, 3;  Physical  and  Natural 
Characteristics,  7-10;  Scenery, 
12  ;  Vegetation,  14 ;  Mammals,  15  ; 
Climates  of,  17  ;  Kendall,  Magis- 
trate of,  87 ;  Under  Jurisdiction 
of  New  South  Wales,  87 ;  Chiefs' 
Appeal  to  William  IV..  89 ;  Bus- 
by, British  Resident,  90 ;  United 
Tribes  of,  93 ;  French  Activity  in 
N.  Z.,  89-93;  Interest  of  Wake- 
field  in,  98 ;  Tory  sails,  103 ;  Hob- 
son  sent  out,  104  ;  Hobson  at  Kor- 
orareka,  109;  Treaty  of  Wai- 
tangi,  112 ;  a  Separate  Colony, 
114 ;  Representative  Government 
Granted,  158  ;  University  of ,  277  ; 
Shipping  Company,  368 ;  Im- 
perialistic, 431. 

Ngahue  visits  N.  Z.,  1. 

Ngamotu  Pa,  85. 

Ngaroto,  2. 

Ngati  Porou  Tribe,  409. 

Ngatiawa-Waikato  War,  83. 

O. 

Oheawai  Pa,  144. 

Old  Age  Pensions,  325,  444. 

Old  New  Zealand,  389. 

Opotiki  Rebellion,  259. 

Oratory,  Maori,  23. 

Otago,  Settlement,  163  et.  seq.  ; 
Dunedin  and  Point  Chalmers 
Founded,  169;  Political  Educa- 
tion, 173 ;  College  of,  378. 

P. 

Pakehas,  54. 

Parakino,  413. 

Parihaka  Fiasco,  300. 

Pa,  The  Model,  410. 

Penny  an  Acre  Policy,  139-146. 


Pensions,  Old  Age,  355. 

Pete  Black  Finds  Gold,  268. 

Physical  Features  of  N.  Z.,  S. 

Policy  of  Confiscation,  252  ; 

Pollen,  Dr.,  288. 

Polynesian  Mythology,  383. 

Pomare,  79. 

Pompallier,  Bishop,  94. 

Population,  433. 

Port  Chalmers  Founded,  169. 

Postal  Records,  435. 

Potatau,    214    (see    also     Te    Whero 

Whero);  chosen  King,  218;  Death 

of,  226. 

Poverty  Bay  Massacre,  261. 
Pratt  at  Mahoetahi,  227. 
Provincialism  Impedes  Progress,  267. 
Provincial  Governments,  190. 
Provincial    Loans   Act,   198 ;    Council, 

286-288. 
Public  Works  Policy,  278  ;  Debt,  441 ; 

Trust  Office,  299. 
Pukerangiora  Pa,  Battle  of,  228. 
Pukerangiora  Pa,  83. 
Puketakauere  Pa,  Disaster,  224. 
Pyke,  Vincent,  895 

R. 

Racing  Clubs,  430 

Railway  Statistics,  435. 

Randolph,  The,  180. 

Rangih.ieata  and  Wairau  Valley,  134. 

Rangiriri  Pa,  242. 

Rangitauira,  248. 

Rauparaha,  Victories  of,  80 ;  Soiz-iro 

of,  148 ;  Death  of,  152. 
Read,  Gabriel,  268. 
Recreations,  430. 
Reeves,  Hon.  W.  P.,  308-312,  343,  389, 

395. 

Registry  Office  Act,  842. 
Regulations  of  Factories  and  Shor-s, 

333. 
Regulation    BUI,   Native    Districts, 

208. 

Rennie,  Geo.,  164. 
Responsible   Government,  Struggle 

for,  194. 
Revenue,  440. 
Rewi  Maniopoto,  244. 
Richardson,  Major,  268. 
Rifleman,  The,  261. 
Rolleston,  Hon.  W.,  292,  858. 
Ropata  Wahawaha,  259. 
Ruapekapeka  Pa,  147. 
Ruatara,  60. 
Rutherford,  John,  389. 

S. 

Sanitation  in  Shops,  SSS. 
Saunders,  Alfred,  391. 
Savings  Banks,  425,  433. 
Scenery  of  New  Zealand,  12,  14. 
Schools,  System,  374 ;  Teachers  of, 


INDEX. 


459 


875 ;  Secondary,  376  ;  of  Medi- 
cine, Mining,  Engineering.  Agri- 
culture, Music.  379  :  Art,  333. 

Science,  382. 

Seddon,  Hon.  R  J.,  Early  Life,  428 ; 
Political  Life,  310,  312,  427,  etc. 

Selwyn,  Bishop,  71,  145. 

Sentry  Hill,  249. 

Settlements,  Blind  Bay,  24  ;  Fr.  At- 
tempt, 307 ;  Village,  357. 

Sewell,  Mr.,  144  ;  Ministry  of,  196. 

Seymour,  Sir.  Geo.,  180. 

Sheehan,  Native  Minister,  300,  303. 

Shops,  Sanitation  of,  333 ;  Assistants' 
Act,  336. 

Shortland,  Lieut,  at  Te  Aro,  117 ; 
Acting-Governor,  181, 

Smith,  S.  Percy,  386. 

South  African  Contingents,  432. 

Spain,  Land  Commissioner,  133. 

Sports,  430. 

Stafford  Ministry,  196. 

State  Socialism,  297;  Life  Assur- 
ance, 298. 

Statistical  Appendix,  433. 

Steward,  Wm.  Jukes,  395. 

Stewart,  Pakeha,  58. 

Stout- Vogel  Coalition,  291. 

Strikes,  Absence  of,  348. 

Sugar  and  Blanket  Policy,  300. 

Sugar  and  Flour  Policy  (see  Flour 
and  Sugar). 

Swainson,  Attorney-General,  122. 

T. 

Tama-i-hara-nui,  Murder  of,  80. 

Tama-te-Kapua,  2. 

Tamihana  (see  Wiremu  T.). 

Tapu,  Maori  Decalogue,  24. 

Taraia,  128,  267. 

Taranaki  Complications,  219. 

Tarawera,  Eruption  of,  11. 

Tasman,  Mt.,  18. 

Tasman's  Voyages,  36. 

Taupo   Tribes'   Revolt,    149;   Martyrs, 

66. 

Tauranga,  Cook  at,  38,  246. 
Tauranga  Pa,  128. 
Tawhaki,  Legend  of,  30. 
Tax,    Land    and    Income    Assessment 

Act,  314  ;  Property,  293. 
Te  Aro,  117. 
Te  Aro  Settlement,  116. 
Te  Ante  College,  407. 
Te  Heu  Heu  opposes  Missionaries,  66 ; 

at  Rangiriri,  212. 
Te  Ika  a  Maui,  North  Island,  7. 
Teira's  Land,  219  et  seq. 
Te  Kirikau,  415. 
Te    Kooti,    261,    263;    Pardoned,    300, 

416. 

Telegraph  Lines,  435. 
Te  Pahi,  75. 
Te  Ranga.  Fall  of,  247. 
Te  Taniwha,  267. 


Te  Ua,  248. 

Te  Wai  Ponnamu,  Middle  Islands,  7. 

Te  Whero  Wliero,  83,  84  (Potatau). 

Te  Whiti,  301  et  seq.,  411. 

Thames  Tribe,  Ancestors,  4. 

Throat  of  the  Parata,  3. 

Titokowaru,  302. 

Tohunga,  The,  402. 

Torrens    System    of    Land    Transfer, 

298. 

Tory,  The,  103. 
Trade      and       Navigation       Returns, 

436-7. 

Transvaal  War,  427,  481. 
Tregear,  Edward,  386. 
Truck  Act,  841. 
Trust  Office,  Public,  299. 
Tuapeka,  Gold  at,  268. 
Tunnel  between  Christclmrch  and  Tort 

Lyttletou,  276. 
Tunmarangi,  414. 

U. 

Ultimatum     of  Governor    Browne, 

231. 

Unions,  Industrial,  344  et  seq. 
United  Tribes  of  New  Zealand,  93. 
University  Professors,  380. 
University  of  New  Zealand,  277,  2S7, 

377, 
Urban  Population,  438. 

V. 

Vegetation  of  N.  Z.,  14. 

Victoria  College,  378. 

Village  Settlements,  357. 

Vogel,  Sir  Julius,  279  et  seq. 

Vogel-Stout  Coalition,  291. 

Volckner,  Murdered,  258. 

Voyages,  of  Tasman,  36 ;  Do  Survilla, 

41 ;  Ngahue,  1. 
Vulcan's  Workshop,  10-11. 

W. 

Wages,  Attachment  Act,  312. 

Wages,  341. 

Waiatarua,  404. 

Waikato-Ngatiawa  War,  82. 

Waikato,  Ancestors  of,  4 ;  War  of, 
233  et  seq. 

Waikouaiti,  in  1848,  162. 

Waimate,  92. 

Wairau,  Massacre  of,  133-4. 

Waitangi,  Treaty  of,  110. 

Waitara,  Difficulties,  126;  Purchase, 
222. 

Waitotara  Tribe,  Christian,  66. 

Waka  Nene,  112. 

Waketield,  Edward  Gibbon,  97 ; 
Views  on  Systematic  Colonisa- 
tion, 98;  Sails  for  N.  Z.  on  Tory, 
103 ;  at  Queen  Charlotte's 
Sound,  107 ;  Mentor  of  Governor, 
144. 


460 


INDEX. 


Wakefield,  Jerningham,  51. 

Wanganui  of  To-day,  405. 

Wanganui  Tribes,  Revolt  of,  149. 

Wangaroa  Mission,  64. 

Ward,  Joseph  George,  310-12. 

Warre,  Colonel,  253. 

Watson,  H.  B.  Marriott,  392. 

Watson,  Rev.  H.  C.  M.,  391. 

Weld,  Mr.,  194,  257. 

Weld  Ministry,  Confiscation  Policy, 

Wellington,  Capital,  1864,  257. 

Wellington,  Denies  British  Inten- 
tion to  annex  New  Zealand,  88  ; 
Views  on  Colonies,  102. 

Wetini,  228. 

Whaling  Industry,  47. 

Whanga  Paroa,  3. 

Whareongaonga,  261. 

White,  John,  886. 

Whitmore,  260. 

Wickliffe,  The  .Mm,  169. 


William  IV..  Appeal  of  Chiefs  to,  89. 

Williams,  Archdeacon,  64,  69. 

Williams,  Bishop,  64. 

Williams,  George  Phipps,  396. 

Wilson,  Captain,  262. 

Wilson,  Mrs.  ("  Austral"), 897. 

Wiremu  Kingi  (see  Kingi). 

Wiremu  Tamihana,  the  King- Maker, 
208  ;  Plans  and  Projects  of,  205 ; 
Rangiriri  Meeting,  214;  in  Rr.ie 
of  Peace- Maker,  229;  Waitara 
Dispute,  230;  Interview  with 
Grey,  238 ;  Joins  War  Party,  240. 

Women's  Franchise,  316. 

Workmen,  Compensation  Act,  839; 
Wages  of,  341. 

Wynyard,  Col.,  198. 

Y. 

Young  Maori  Party,  408, 


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